$500 Vouchers For NSW Primary School Parents

As children across New South Wales prepare to go back to school, the state government have revealed a $155 million program to support parents and the out-of-school hours care industry.

Premier Dominic Perrottet announced the $500 voucher scheme on Monday, as a means of easing the burden of before and after school care for parents of primary school children.

"We know that parents, this pandemic has been incredibly tough, balancing home-schooling, with work, we want to...help mums and dads balance work and family life."

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“Before and After School Care (BASC) services are more important than ever as families return to work following the holidays,” said Mr Perrottet.

“It’s been a challenging past couple of years for parents of school-aged children. Many have had to juggle the demands of supervising their kids’ education at home while working remotely, or even forgoing paid work."

“These vouchers for before and after school care will help alleviate some of the financial pressures on NSW families and provide greater flexibility and more options for those who need to work,” Perrottet explained.

Similar to last year's Dine and Discover stimulus program for the hospitality industry, the vouchers will cover the parent gap fee, which is the portion paid by families after the Commonwealth-funded childcare subsidy is applied.

Education minister Sarah Mitchell said the new $500 back-to-school program comes at a time when families need it most.

"We know a lot of working families, and particularly the essential workers, rely on these before and after school and vacation hazardous this is about helping with the portability of and household budgets, knowing you can apply for this voucher through servers New South Wales at the end of February."

"And get that $500 credit that you can then get to your provider and have the time of the cost of your early childhood education cost when it comes to before and after school care," she said.

Doing everything within their means to support parents, Perrottet said the vouchers are also an important support for the industry.

"We know that before and after school care, just like childcare, just like early child education is also gone through a difficult time over the last two years and providing this extra support for parents will support providers as well."

- Premier Perrottet

From February 28, eligible parents will be able to apply for the vouchers through Service NSW.

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