Real action on child care
July 27, 2010
The Coalition understands the importance of ensuring that families have access to child care and will commit an additional $89 million for initiatives to make child care more affordable and help ensure the quality of care.
Many Australian families are struggling and need help to meet increased costs of living. We understand that women, in particular, have to leave their jobs or reduce their hours if they cannot access affordable and quality child care.
To improve access to affordable child care for families, the Coalition will reintroduce the indexation of the Child Care Rebate to help eligible families meet their child care costs. The Child Care Rebate covers 50 per cent of out-of-pocket child care expenses for approved child care up to the annual cap of $7,500.
For those parents receiving the maximum amount of the Child Care Rebate, indexation of the payment will provide an additional $300 per year for every child in care.
The Rudd-Gillard Government removed the indexation of Child Care Rebate in the last Budget.
The Coalition will seek to have Child Care Rebate paid weekly and directly to child care providers so that families will face smaller and less frequent out-of-pocket expenses which will ease the pressure on family budgets.
The Child Care Rebate is currently paid quarterly and in arrears to the family when an account is raised. This has generated cash flow problems for parents and has been subject to fraud. This change would be an improvement for families’ budgets, improve efficiency and reduce red tape.
We will also reintroduce $12.6 million of Occasional Care funding cut by the Rudd-Gillard Government, which will give parents greater flexibility and part-time access to child care places in times of emergency or unforeseen need.
The Coalition will not proceed with Labor’s new National Rating system for child care and early childhood education services. There is no evidence that a rating or ranking system adds value for parents or accurately portrays the quality of care provided. Approved child care is accredited and monitored, and parents can already access attendance data on-line.
The Coalition supports high quality and standards for the sector. However, we have heard the concerns expressed by child care providers who believe that Labor has failed to adequately consult on the cost and workforce impacts of the new National Quality Agenda for Early Childhood Education and Care.
As a result, we will ensure wide industry consultation before proceeding with these significant reforms to the sector.
We will also re-establish the Federal Planning and Advisory Committee to restore order and rationality to the establishment of new accredited child care facilities. The Committee will assess whether the establishment or expansion of child care centres is warranted, subject to the unmet need in catchment areas.
These measures are in addition to the Coalition’s commitment to introduce a proper paid parental leave system. The Coalition’s paid parental leave plan will provide mothers with six months paid leave at their full salary – providing real time and real money at a time when families need it most.
Before the 2007 election, Labor campaigned on a promise to build an additional 260 child care and early childhood education centres on school sites and community land to ‘end the double drop off’. After nearly three years in office, Labor has only opened four of these promised centres.
Labor claims that there are a further 34 on the drawing board, but in April 2010 announced that the remaining 222 centres would not be built – a clear broken promise to families.
In this year’s Budget, Labor also removed indexation of the Child Care Rebate - increasing child care costs for parents by around $300 per year for every child in care.
The Coalition supports choice for families when it comes to raising their children and this announcement is part of our broader package of support for familles.
The Coalition will commit an additional $89.25 million over the forward estimates towards increased these child care measures. This funding will be provided from the nearly $24 billion in recurrent savings that have been identified by the Coalition over the forward estimates.
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