“That ICPA (Aust) requests the Minister for Education to include the following wording ‘except where care is being provided in a remote or very remote location’ in A New Tax System (Family Assistance) Act 1999 – 85BA Eligibility for CCS and Child Care Subsidy Minister’s Rule 2017 – Section 8.”
The following are the requirements:
A New Tax System (Family Assistance) Act 1999
85BA Eligibility for CCS
(1) An individual is eligible for CCS for a session of care provided by an approved child care service to a child if:
(c) (ii) is not provided as part of the compulsory education program in the state or territory where the care is provided (Proposed motion wording to be inserted here)
Child Care Subsidy Minister’s Rule 2017 Section 8 - 1 (f) where during any part of the session, the child is attending school, or engages in a formal schooling program (including a home schooling or distance education program) (Proposed motion wording to be inserted here) A New Tax System (Family Assistance) Act 1999 in its introduction states that IHC supports families’ workforce participation and early childhood education and care requirements where other approved child care services are not available or appropriate.
That is, the government supports families’ participation in the workforce unless you live in a remote or very remote location and your child’s only access to schooling is via government approved Distance Education. Then, the government expect you to forgo any participation in the workforce and to supervise you child’s schooling for the entirety of their primary schooling years.
This is a government enforced roadblock to productivity across remote Australia and is yet another example of the failure of policy to assist families, community and productivity thrive in remote locations and it needs to be changed. Rural and remote agricultural communities that feed our nation will not flourish or grow without equitable assistance in educating these isolated children.
