Coalition considers paying grandparents to care for grandchildren
Coalition childcare spokeswoman, Senator Sharman Stone, has flagged the possibility of paying grandparents who help out as nannies, the full child care subsidy, along with all other in-home carers.
“If a grandparent comes into the home and acts as a nanny in every sense for the parents in a professional sense, I can’t see any difference between that scenario and a small business where a woman owns a small retail outlet and employs her mother,” Senator Stone said.
“It would obviously have to be bona fide, where you have tax returns, a salary being paid – an appropriate salary for that work. If they fully met all of the conditions of employment, you just couldn’t discriminate.”
“It’s irrelevant really, if the person is related to you or not, if they are fulfilling a professional role, in this case child care.”
A report in The Australian says the plan to subisidise properly employed nannies is also supported by a key union official, Australian Workers Union secretary, Paul Howes.
He said it would wipe out a section of the black labour market where nannies are already working but not paid the right amount, including tax and superannuation.
