Victoria Minister for Children and Early Childhood Development Wendy Lovell

Review Recommends Against Funding Take A Break

Victor P Taffa

The independent KPMG report on Occasional Child Care released today recommends the discontinuation of the Take a Break (TAB) program and the continuation of the Adult Community and Further Education (ACFE) program.

The report, which was commissioned by the Brumby Government after the Commonwealth Government’s withdrawal of funding for the TAB program, also recommends that any future funding model for Occasional Care includes changes to the Commonwealth Government’s Child Care Benefit, so that Occasional Care is eligible.

“KPMG has reviewed the operation of these programs including their efficiency and their effectiveness in meeting their stated goals and concluded that funding for TAB should not be continued.” Minister for Children and Early Childhood Development, Wendy Lovell said.

Specifically the report notes that:

In many instances, the TAB program was not meeting its stated aim of providing short-term care for children when it was required at late notice.

The TAB program had largely evolved into a sessional care program with children being pre-booked on a permanent basis across a whole school term.

The restriction of parent access to the Federal Child Care Benefit is a factor in creating an inefficient market in the provision of Occasional Child Care.

Currently the subsidy provided via TAB and ACFE programs to OCC providers is not based on criteria linked to need. This does not equate to goals of stated policy, which seeks to provide a fairer Victoria through providing assistance to those who are most in need.

25 % of users were parents who used the service for parental socialisation/recreation activities while 16 % of parents accessing TAB were using the program for work-related purposes and 9 % of the parents accessing the program were studying.

“It is clear from the KPMG report that TAB was being used to address some gaps in the provision of general child care services, even if this was not its intent.”

“The report highlights the Commonwealth Government’s fundamental role as the provider of funding for child-care and identifies issues which need to be addressed by the Commonwealth Government in terms of its Child Care Benefit.” Ms. Lovell said.

For example, the report states that: 

“The Commonwealth has a long history of supporting child care on a financial basis, beginning in 1972.”

This has been demonstrated by the Commonwealth Government’s recent announcement of funding for 250 approved Occasional Care places in Victoria, the details of which will not be available until late January.

“However, the Commonwealth Government continues to limit the general availability of the Child Care Benefit for Occasional Care and this has exacerbated the impact of the Commonwealth Government’s withdrawal of funding for the TAB program.” Ms. Lovell said.