The Australian Nanny Association is concerned the Federal government Nanny Pilot is set up to fail.
The Federal government released its draft guidelines for the Home Based Care (Nanny Pilot) this week for public comment until Thursday 23rd July 5pm.
The pilot is aimed at low to middle income earning families with work hours outside of standard hours of approved childcare, and families who live in rural and regional areas.
There has been no specific consultation on the nanny pilot and it certainly shows in the draft.
The costs to meet the required regulations will outweigh the funding allocated to services wanting to tender.
With the funding range allocated for compliance being from 0.17 to 0.35 cents per hour per child, services would likely be running at a loss to provide the pilot on behalf of government. In comparison the existing In Home Care scheme receives 0.71 cents per hour to provide a similar service.
If services add fees to cover the expenses of administering the pilot this would then add cost to families requiring this type of care.
The low subsidy rate of $5.95 per hour available to eligible families is means tested and drops down to as low as $3.95 per hour per child, based on the family’s income.
Services have to cover recruitment, background checks, insurance, super, tax, support and professional development for each eligible nanny.
A qualified and experienced nanny would be a minimum of $30 per hour employed through a service provider.
With the grant allocated set as low as 0.17 cents per hour to cover purchasing new compliant software to administer the pilot, mileage and time to visit rural and regional families, administration time, support for families and nannies and professional development costs will be blown out for families and the goal of affordable, flexible, quality care left underachieved.
The Australian Nanny Association has concerns that the pilot has not considered the most important person – the child.
In the private nanny sector, experienced nanny agencies provide qualified and experienced nannies to families. Nanny agencies cover their costs within the placement but are not required to provide administration on behalf of the government on top of their own recruitment, training and administrative costs.
Services tendering for the pilot will be trying to keep costs down so families can afford to participate. With the costs specified in the draft guidelines untrained and inexperienced nannies would likely be providing care for between 4 and 7 children.
The Australian Nanny Association does not want to see the pilot fail or children be put at risk because of a lack of understanding of the nanny sector.
For interviews:
Annemarie Sansom, ANA Vice President / Spokesperson
0448430370
annemarie@australiannannyassociation.org.au
