The Abbott Government has introduced legislation that will cut the Child Care Benefit for almost 9,000 families across the region, including 3,090 in Cunningham, 3,620 in Throsby and 2,280 in Gilmore.
The Child Care Benefit is a means-tested payment to low and middle income families to assist with the cost of child care. The Abbott Government wants to freeze the income thresholds of the targeted and means-tested Child Care Benefits.
This cut will directly hit families earning as little as $42,000 a year.The Education Department has confirmed that over 500,000 low and middle-income families across the nation will see their child care assistance cut.
This is a direct hit to those families who can least afford it, including many parents who would otherwise be forced to leave the workforce, Sharon Bird said.
Low and middle income families in the Illawarra should not have to foot the bill for Tony Abbotts luxury multi-billion dollar Paid Parental Leave Scheme, Sharon Bird said.
The crazy thing about this Governments priorities is they propose to spend more on their new Paid Parental Leave scheme than they do on child care, said Stephen Jones
This cut comes on top of other cuts which brings the total child care cuts announced by the Abbott Government to over $1 billion including services such as the Outside School Hours Care program, the Community Support Program (Family Day Care) and Indigenous Child and Family Centres.
These cuts are imminent but not unstoppable it is one of the few Budget measures the Parliament actually will get the opportunity to vote on, said Jones.
We need educators, parents and the community to be aware of these incredibly unfair cuts and to join our campaign.
Sharon Bird and Stephen Jones are encouraging members of the community to send a strong message to the Senate that these cuts should be stopped and encouraging people to sign the petition that is available on both Sharon and Stephens websites:
