"It will be a system which will mean parents will get their children cared for for free," he said. "You do not have to worry about trying to look for new care for your children." Prime Minister Scott Morrison during a press conference on the early childhood education and care relief package. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Mr Tehan said 60 per cent of the costs of a childcare centre were wages, and the JobKeeper subsidy will provide support the sector "to the tune of over $1 billion". With this additional support, he said it will boost assistance to the sector to $1.6 billion. Mr Tehan said the only conditions for childcare centres to receive the payments were the centre must remain open and must provide care for those parents who need their children cared for.

"They must also seek to re-enrol those parents who might have dropped off," he said. He also said the government would waive the gap fee for parents who have been paying for childcare, backdated to March 23. Education Minister Dan Tehan (centre) said the $1.6 billion temporary overhaul will begin from Sunday night. Credit:Alex Ellinghausen Mr Tehan said childcare centres will prioritise children of essential workers who can't care for their children at home and those who are vulerable. They will then try to accommodate parents who have taken their children out of care. Mr Morrison said that the health advice on sending children to school or childcare had not changed.

"There is no health risk to children going to school or going to childcare," he said. But he said because many parents had voluntarily pulled their children out throughout the crisis, it had made some centres un-viable. "Now, what we are doing here is ensuring that the same arrangements exist for childcare centres [as for schools] so people who have those jobs won't have their livelihoods put at risk," he said. "This virus is going to take enough from Australians without putting Australian parents in that position of having to choose between the economic wellbeing of their family or the care, support and education of their children."

The JobKeeper wage subidies that child care centres say will keep workers in the job only apply to businesses with under $1 billion in revenue and a 30 per cent loss in turnover. Loading Mr Tehan said he would continue discussions with the country's largest private provider, Goodstart Early Learning, to see what arrangements could be made. Mr Tehan said the company has just over $1 billion in annual revenue and makes $100 million in profit a year. In a statement, Goodstart, which has 16,000 staff and provides childcare for 60,000 families, disputed Mr Tehan's claims. "Goodstart is a not-for-profit and we have never made a $100 million profit," it said.