ORIMA Survey released – have your say about the ECEC Relief Package

The Department of Education, Skills and Employment contacted early childhood education and care services last week, announcing the engagement of ORIMA Research to undertake “a quick pulse survey” of the early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector to gather feedback on the ECEC Relief Package.

Services, the Department said, may be experiencing impacts from the package and COVID-19 differently, and as such, their input is sought to deepen the Departments understanding of individual circumstances.

When combined with the JobKeeper Payment, the intention of the package is to support sector viability, and to allow services to retain staff and continue to provide quality early childhood education and care, particularly for children of essential workers, vulnerable and disadvantaged children and existing families who were enrolled in the two weeks prior to 2 March 2020 (or the relevant vacation period).

The survey, which was received either by email or SMS from ORIMA Research seeks information on:

• changes in staffing and attendance levels since 1 March 2020;
• eligibility for the JobKeeper Payment;
• how many employees/educators are eligible for the JobKeeper Payment;
• how services are approaching providing care to essential workers, vulnerable and disadvantaged children and families previously enrolled; and,
• service financial viability and staff retention.

The Department reminded services that applications for JobKeeper Payment are now open through the ATO Business Portal, and that eligible providers will be back-paid for eligible employees, with first payments due in early May. 

Further information about JobKeeper is available on the ATO website, here.