Federal Member for Longman Terry Young says more than 7,000 Longman families could benefit from free child care during the coronavirus (COVID-19) situation under a plan from the Morrison Government.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced the strategy to help the early childhood sector and care sector today, with the Government paying 50 per cent of the sector’s fee revenue up to the existing hourly rate cap based on a point in time before parents started withdrawing their children in large numbers, under the plan.

However, this is only so long as services remain open and do not charge families for care. The funding will apply from 6 April based on the number of children who were in care during the fortnight leading into 2 March, whether or not they are attending services.

One million families across Australia are set to receive the free child care package.

Federal Member for Longman Terry Young MP said that he was pleased to see the Morrison Government delivering for the early education and care industry.

“We have more than 43,000 families living and working in the Longman electorate, we have 7,148 of those families who are benefiting from the Morrison Government’s Child Care Package,” Mr Young said.

“As well as supporting these families, we need to ensure that as many of Longman’s child care and early learning services as possible remain open for workers and families who need these services.

“We need to ensure that parents are able to provide for their children during this time because a lot of parents need to work and can’t stay home and look after their children.”

For more information about the Early Childhood Education and Care Relief Package please visit https://www.education.gov.au/news/covid-19-early-childhood-education-and-care-relief-package-monday-6-april-additional-support.