At least two new nanny agencies have opened in Canberra, as a new federal pilot program flags future subsidies for families choosing Mary Poppins over childcare centres.
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The new federal government in-home care nanny pilot program, aimed at shift workers and regional families, offers an hourly benchmark price of $7 and is set to begin in January 2016.
The ACT agencies have been inundated with demand since opening and both are in the midst of hiring staff.
GLK Elite Nannies founder Georgia Lily King said she was inspired to set up the business six months ago after working as a nanny when she was completing her teaching degree.
"When I entered into the teaching profession, I felt there was a missed connection somewhere, I wasn't feeling quite complete. I'd built up a very close bond with a couple of families and children when nannying," she said.
Ms King said while many families were unsure if they qualified for the pilot program, there was substantial interest.
"Before the announcement, I did get quite a lot of enquiries from shift families and rural families with tricky care needs, as they find daycare too regimented for them and need ad hoc evening and weekend care," she said.
Rhys Turner, founder of new agency Nanny House which started last month, said the pilot was one of the reasons he opened.
"That was one driving factor behind getting into the industry, since there is now funding for one-to-one services," he said.
Ms King said there had been a few regulatory hurdles to opening.
"There was a lot of compliance work that went on in 2014, making sure we were meeting all our legal requirements and had all the foundations of policy and procedure in place," she said.
'Overwhelming' response
But she said the response made all the effort worthwhile.
"It has been absolutely overwhelming, I was not prepared at all. We have been inundated with requests and interest in the agency," Ms King said.
Mr Turner too has been overwhelmed by the number of calls and is now hiring.
"I'm in the process of hiring three to four staff in the next two weeks," he said.
GLK also works as a recruitment agency – it finds, vets and trains nannies, who then work independently for families.
"We have just gone through a big recruitment period and are hoping to get another five to 10 positions secured," she said.
Ms King said hiring a nanny made sense for a lot of Canberra families.
"We have a lot of public service workers, defence workers and a lot of families in diplomatic corps, so there is a unique need for nannies in that environment," she said.
