Au Pair

Ceej1973, you do know Child Care isn’t part of the Families (Jenny Macklin), or even the Children’s Services (Bill Shorten) portfolios, right?
Hence the frowny cough\look away if you approached it with them.

You want Kate Ellis, Minister for Early Childhood Education, Child Care and Youth.
http://www.deewr.gov.au/Ministers/Ellis/Pages/default.aspx

Why does Au Pair + Girls just has never been the same since the 1972 movie. A nanny is much better.

We had a German live in “nanny”. She was great, and with the added bonus that our kids were immersed in her language. Be aware that the Government doesnt look to kindly to the idea of live in nannies who are not paid a “wage” as such. I raised the topic (including the possability of Government reimbursment of costs, such as with child care centres) with the Federal Families Minister at a local forum, and it was like, frown, cough, pretend I he didnt hear it type scenario. Anyway, just make sure that he/she has an internationally recognised licence if they are going to be driving your kids, and that they have travel insurance, in case they are injured or become sick. Also, you still have to take sick leave for your kids if the nanny gets sick.We paid our’s $250 a month, with her own car, fuel paid for, free board and meals and other costs incurred.

Yes, Clown Killer I would love to get in touch with you if that can be organised. Especially to find out what search website you like the best. I didn’t even think of the insurance angle.

I am very interested in the cultural exchange and the company for my little guy. We don’t have a lot of family here and I think having a live in young person would add to the family.

Vg, I think nannies are also more qualified/educated in childcare.

Thank you everyone for the links too.

‘Au pair’ is just a name people use to make themselves feel more stylish

Quite possibly vg. In our case, we use ‘au pair’ as that is how the young lady in question would like to have her relationship with us described.

Like the clown killer said there are a lot of online resources available. Au Pairs are really a great way to get child care and give your children a cultural experience. I would say the two best Web sites to help you find information are http://goaupair.com/ and http://www.greataupair.com/

Good Luck with your search!

Its a live in nanny.

‘Au pair’ is just a name people use to make themselves feel more stylish

I’d just call it a nanny in English?

Is there something an au pair does that renders it unable to be communicated in the English language?

We have an au pair at present and are very happy.

There’s a huge amount of online resources that are available to prospective au pairs / host families. We have found the best (on-line resources) to be the ones where you have to pony up for a subscription. Communication is the key – email’s fine for initial contact but nothing beats conversations, video-links and (if they’re local) meetings/interviews.

Be clear about what you want and what you are after. Have a clear position description. Consider also what you can offer (room & board, use of a vehicle etc. as well as pay), and how you will structure the time that you are after – what will be part of the regular arrangement and what will be considered additional (and remunerated accordingly).

If you are considering an au pair from abroad, it’s worth trying to attract someone with a work visa as they may be able to pick up additional casual work to make the exercise more attractive for them financially – there’s no shortage of cafe, restaurant, shop assistant work around especially day shifts.

Consider to the insurance and workers compensation implications – these aren’t a big deal in terms of premiums, but you’d be screwed if you were caught out.

I’d be happy to elaborate further (and at the risk of imposing on the editorial crew), I’m sure JB could put you in touch with me if you wanted to discuss this further.