Vic: Subsidised childcare to be announced in Budget: report

AAP General News (Australia)
04-15-2000
Vic: Subsidised childcare to be announced in Budget: report

MELBOURNE, April 15 AAP - For the first time, federal government-subsidised childcare
workers will go into homes so parents can work or study, under a plan in the next federal
Budget, a Melbourne newspaper reported today.

The $60 million plan to deliver more flexible childcare was mainly aimed at isolated
or rural families, the Herald Sun repored.

The plan would be a key plank in a $250 million National Families Strategy to be unveiled
in the May 9 Budget, the newspaper said.

The so-called mobile nanny squads would remove one of the greatest barriers to work,
the lack of adequate and flexible care for children, the paper said.

Priority is expectd to be given to low-income households and, while the service will
be subsidised, it will not be free.

The report said Prime Minister John Howard "hinted" at the childcare plan at the first
day of the national Liberal Party conference in Melbourne.

"Balancing work and family responsibilities is very much the preoccupation of parents
in the 21st Century," he reportedly said.

"What we ought to be doing is providing as many parents as possible with the option
of making the decision thay they think best suits their particular family circumstances."

AAP gfr/cdh

KEYWORD: CHILDCARE

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