On June 25th the Guild held a Media Conference and Forum on the changes by the federal Government to JET. The forum was organised by Womans officer Clare Middlemas and Murdoch student and single parent Peta Miller. JET is a program which provides childcare assistance for single parents that are studying by paying most of the ‘gap fee’ not covered by Child Care Benefit for the hours of care needed to do approved activities. . Childcare is extremely expensive and often unaffordable for single parents who are studying.
Last July the federal government made changes to program, making parents studying courses which exceed 12 months not eligible for any childcare assistance. This change in legislation is very discriminatory. It gives extra support to single parents, that are studying a short course, that will accordingly get them into a menial, low paid job. It traps many single parents and their children in a cycle of poverty.
The Forum was well attended by students, politicians, union bosses and the media, including Rachel Siewart, Greens Senator, Jock Ferguson, Secretary of the AMWU, Louise Pratt, ALP MLA, and Pendo Mwaketele, Chair of Women’s at Curtin.
As a direct result the government announced they would henceforth relax the policy a little and give all single parents, regardless of their entire course duration, 12 months worth of assistance.
However, though this is a great victory, it is far from being sufficient. Under this change single parents will only be covered by JET for a twelve month period, after which they will once again find themselves back in the exact same situation they were in just weeks ago.
The ALP has publicly stated it would look to ensure in its pre-election policies that JET would be sorted to provide appropriate childcare subsidies for single parents to stay in and complete their education. Greens Senator Rachel Siewert has spoken about the issue in parliament .
If you are a single parent or are simply interested in the issue please contact me on basha.stasak@gmail.com and I can put in touch with the relevant people.
