“That ICPA (Aust) lobbies the relevant ministers to remove the Child Care Subsidy Activity Test to include all children living in rural and remote Australia.”
We would like to support Thrive by Five in their effort to have the government remove the Child Care Subsidy Activity Test. Currently the hours of subsidised care you can get per fortnight depends on the hours of recognised activities you do such as work, study or volunteer work.
As a result of this activity test some children are excluded from Early Learning which is not only detrimental for the child but also stops parents from being in a position to seek or take on work. As highlighted by Thrive by Five, it is difficult for parents to get a job without childcare, and if you do not have a job it is difficult to afford childcare.
The issue of access to childcare is already a huge issue in remote areas, that often have limited childcare options, but the activity test complicates the access issue further.
We acknowledge that working parents need to be able to access childcare to support workforce participation, but regardless of whether your parent/s work, study or volunteer the fact remains that every child has a right to an education regardless of their background or parent/caregivers’ employment status or volunteer hours.
It is particularly important for the children in low income, single parent families and socio economically disadvantaged backgrounds that their disadvantage is not compounded due to lack of access to child care.
Education and Care in the Early Years is extremely important laying the foundations for social and emotional development, early learning and working towards being truly ready to start school. The 0-5 years of age is an ideal time for learning and identifying areas that the children may need further assistance with and subsequent referrals to specialists such as speech pathologist, occupational therapist etc.
The activity test needs to be removed to ensure every child has equal access to Early Childhood Education and Care.
