Australian childcare is highly regulated to ensure that both children and carers are kept safe. Childcare workers in childcare centres are required to have post-school qualifications. Australia also has a legally enforceable minimum wage. For all these reasons, you may find child care in Sydney more expensive than you are used to, particularly for young children.
We have investigated a number of options and hope that at least one will suit you and your family.
All prices listed are in Australian dollars.
Onsite crèche for Children 0 to 12 years old.
We have obtained a quote from a specialist firm, Crechendo, to run a crèche on campus from 9am to 5pm for the duration of the conference. The crèche will be in a room upstairs in the same building as the plenary sessions will be held and next door to where the contributed talks will be held and catering will be provided.
Parents will be required to look after their child during the lunch break and to be able to be contacted by phone at all times, including to change children’s nappies. All activities will be provided but parents are asked to provide their children with snacks for morning and afternoon tea and bottles of formula if required.
The cost will be $800 per child for the whole conference. Due to the fixed costs involved, we can only provide this service for the whole conference and cannot charge by the day.
Parents who wish to use this service must have registered and paid for the service by Friday June 15. Registration Form here.
We will need at least five children to take up places for us to run this service. If we are not able to run the crèche, we will refund any fees and suggest alternative services.
Occasional childcare centres for children 0 to 5 years old
Sydney University lists three occasional childcare centres on its website for parents: http://sydney.edu.au/students/childcare/occasional-care.html
The closest of these is SDN Glebe Children’s Education and Care Centre which is about 15 to 20 minutes walk from the conference venue. It is open from 8 to 5 each weekday.
Costs per child are $139 per full day or $76 for morning (8 to 12.30) only or afternoon (12.30 to 5) only. The Centre recommends booking at least a month in advance, but is able to accept later bookings subject to availability. They are willing to accept children visiting from interstate and overseas. Parents will be asked to fill in a form with detailed information about their child.
Contact details: SDN Glebe Children’s Education and Care Centre
Address: 112A Glebe Street, Glebe NSW 2037
Email: glebe@sdn.org.au
Phone: +61 2 9552 3747
Website: https://www.sdn.org.au/services/our-centres/sdn-glebe/ (although this is aimed largely at parents who want on-‐going childcare places)
Sydney Uni Sport and Fitness sports camps for children aged 5 to 15 years
These camps run on campus from 9am to 3pm for two or three days a week. It is also possible to book aftercare from 3 to 5.30pm. They are popular with University staff with sporty kids. Sports include tennis, netball, soccer (=football), rugby union, Australian rules football (AFL), swimming and multi-sport.
Costs are about $215 for a three day camp (Monday to Wednesday) and $160 for a two day camp (Thursday and Friday). Aftercare from 3pm to 5.30pm is available at $30 per afternoon.
Further information and bookings: www.susf.com.au/shop/item/school‐holiday‐sports‐camps
Other organised care options for children 5 and older
The conference is taking place during NSW School holidays and so there are other possibilities. See http://sydney.edu.au/students/childcare/school‐holiday‐programs.html
It is advisable not to leave booking until the last minute as vacation care is in high demand in Sydney.
Unfortunately schools local to the University are not willing to accept children who do not attend that school into their vacation care programs.
Private Nanny
You can book a nanny on a casual basis through an agency or sometimes through a hotel concierge service. A nanny typically costs $20 to $30 an hour and there may also be an agency or booking fee.
See, for example, http://www.daynannies.com.au/, http://www.littlelovelies.com.au/, http://www.dialanangel.com/child-care/babysitting
There are also websites such as;
http://weneedananny.com.au/ that allow you to advertise for a nanny jobs but do not do oversee police checks and checking qualifications etc.