natandkev24 Posted December 2, 2019 Share Posted December 2, 2019 Hi, we landed in Perth last week and have started to get organised with all paperwork and medicare etc. When I went into centrelink to see if my daughter (4yr 4months) could start some sort of pre school/kindy I was told she would not be eligible as neither I or my partner have jobs yet! We both have 189 PR visas and I was informed by an Australian friend that she would be eligible to start from January 2020. Does anybody know any details on entitlements for PRÂ visa (without jobs at present as waiting for trans Tasman recognition to be authorised for current job) Thanks in advance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quoll Posted December 2, 2019 Share Posted December 2, 2019 It might be that as you approached Centrelink they were referring to the child care benefits which, as neither of you is employed, would be an issue. Â Have you been to the local preschool and checked out if you can apply for her to be enrolled? Centrelink doesnt have anything to do with education. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wonderingaloud Posted December 2, 2019 Share Posted December 2, 2019 Quoll is right- Centrelink technically doesnât have anything to do with education,  but having said that kindy is pre-school education that you have to pay for, and Centrelink get involved if you want it subsidised. New rules came out recently which stop people arriving as PRs and instantly claiming benefits such as parental leave, and other payments. There is now a 3 year wait period. I believe the idea is as a PR holder you come to work and pay into the country before you can claim anything back. Anyway, the one âbenefitâ (if you can call it that) that is not referenced directly on centrelinks website in relation to the above policy, is the child care subsidy (CCS). This was discussed a while back on another thread, and I believe there was a couple who were able to get it, but this was after a lot of to-ing and fro-ing with Centrelink. It seems nobody really knows the answer. In a nutshell, your child is of course eligible to start kindy, but if you want it subsidised you will have to take that up with Centrelink. Whilst work has nothing to do with your eligibility, it will however affect how much subsidy you are entitled to. This was a major change last year in that the more you work, the more eligible hours you get. Many people who donât work and were claiming CCS have been affected. Have a read here if you havenât already;  https://www.humanservices.gov.au/individuals/services/centrelink/child-care-subsidy/how-much-you-can-get You could look at the definition of âworkâ too, studying counts, being on maternity leave counts, Iâm not sure if âactively seeking workâ would count but have a look. Good luck 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DukeNinja Posted December 3, 2019 Share Posted December 3, 2019 6 hours ago, natandkev24 said: Hi, we landed in Perth last week and have started to get organised with all paperwork and medicare etc. When I went into centrelink to see if my daughter (4yr 4months) could start some sort of pre school/kindy I was told she would not be eligible as neither I or my partner have jobs yet! We both have 189 PR visas and I was informed by an Australian friend that she would be eligible to start from January 2020. Does anybody know any details on entitlements for PRÂ visa (without jobs at present as waiting for trans Tasman recognition to be authorised for current job) Thanks in advance Centrelink has nothing to do in deciding whether your child can or can't access kindy. Have you tried approaching your local kindy? The more pertinent issue would be whether she could start kindy in Jan 2020, due to places being/not being available. I know some kindys that have a 2 year waiting list... Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sammy1 Posted December 3, 2019 Share Posted December 3, 2019 (edited) Kindys are attached to schools in WA. They are totally free and the student must turn four before June 30th in the year of entry (entry being in February). Your child is eligible on your visa. However, applications for kindy normally are taken at schools in August for the flowing February, so you may not get in anywhere. The only choice then is kindy attached to daycare or a private school, both of which are fee paying. Kindy is not compulsory, however, the following year of pre-primary is, hence every child gets a place in their catchment for pre-primary. Edited December 3, 2019 by Sammy1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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