ERROL PARKER | Editor-at-large | Contact
A Betoota Heights couple are wondering how childcare centres get away with such outrageous and immoral terms as they enrolled their eldest child this morning.
At over $200 a day before the ‘generous’ childcare subsidy, CleverMinds on Rosebank Road is at the upper end of childcare centres in Betoota. While there are many others to choose from, finding a place is very difficult. It’s difficult for a myriad of reasons, according to industry experts. A lack of investment in increasing the supply of childcare means the cost of childcare can remain high for providers. The government has let in too many people without investing in infrastructure. Prices are also at a point that people can seemingly afford, so the chance of them going down is slim. The childcare subsidy follows the great Australian tradition of subsidising private business over the taxpayer. Profits are privatised, losses are nationalised.
Taking that into account, Jackson and Dom Carlton spent a few minutes reading over the agreement in the manager’s office down at CleverMinds this morning while they both wondered to themselves how terms like this are legal.
“So we have to pay even when the centre is closed? Like on a public holiday?” said Dom.
The manager nodded and tried to explain why but didn’t really succeed in doing that.
“The parent is obliged to pay the usual fee for that day; however, the educator is not obliged to provide care,” said the manager.
“Right. Why?”
“That’s just the way it is.”
Jackson scrolled down a bit.
“So fees are payable for all absences? Including but not necessarily limited to family holidays and sick days? What if they’re not booked in?”
The manager nodded.
“Then you might lose that day to somebody on our waitlist. Our waitlist is very long. You need to pay for each day you have them booked in, even if the centre is open. If Christmas Day falls on a Wednesday this year, which it does, and your child is booked in on Wednesday, you pay. Our centre isn’t open on Christmas Day. In fact, our centre is closed from the 23rd to the 2nd of January so our staff can enjoy the break with family,” she said.
“All the while, you pay. You pay us $120, and the government pays us $120 for you to sit at home and look after your own child on Christmas Day.”
“That’s just the way it is.”
More to come.
