Sometimes Cecile Laing gets tired of people assuming she’s a babysitter as she ferries her young charges to school or swimming. Or gymnastics or karate or football.
“I’m not. I’m a career nanny. I earn a salary like anyone else, I get sick days and holidays. I do lots of training to keep my skills up,” says Ms Laing.
If nannies become eligible for childcare subsidies it will lift the standard of the industry and provide another option for parents - particularly those who work long hours or travel, she says.
After working as a nanny full-time for 17 years she has met a handful - only a minority, she stresses - who aren’t up to scratch.
“I’d like to see it looked at as a professional career decision, not just a chance to watch telly and feed the kids fast food,” she says.
Heather Campbell has entrusted her children Elisabeth, 7, and James, 5, to Ms Laing for the past seven years, and said the arrangement offered great flexibility from their home in Panton Hill, in Melbourne’s outer north east.
“She’s one of the family and we had a sense of comfort that somebody you know is going to care and love and look after your children as much as you do.”
The productivity commission’s recommendations would offer more choice for families with additional needs, those who might not have family support, or who worked non-traditional hours, she said.
