Making childcare more affordable a significant step forward on the path to reform
27 September 2022 – Minderoo Foundation’s Thrive by Five campaign has welcomed the introduction of the Federal Government’s legislation to make childcare more affordable for Australian families.
The newly introduced legislation will reduce the cost of early learning for many children from $50 a day to under $20 a day and make childcare more affordable for hundreds of thousands of Australian families.
“There are significant benefits from addressing the high out-of-pocket costs of early learning,” Thrive by Five Director Jay Weatherill said.
“Young children who have the opportunity to attend high quality early learning are shown to be healthier, better educated and more productive over their lifetimes.
“For our economy, more affordable childcare will help unlock the power of parents’ workforce participation, particularly mothers’, which would in turn help address the labour shortages we’re currently experiencing across the country.
“Making childcare more affordable will make it easier for parents to work and build a career, as well as alleviating cost of living pressures on household budgets.
“When it comes to childcare reform, there is no time to waste.”
Mr Weatherill said the introduction of the legislation today represented a significant step forward on the path to creating a high quality, universally accessible and affordable early learning system.
“It follows the increase in subsidised childcare hours for First Nations children announced yesterday, the establishment of the ACCC and Productivity Commission inquiries, the addition of early learning to the National Cabinet agenda and the development of an early years strategy,” he said.
“We look forward to continuing to work with the Federal Government to progress comprehensive reform of the early learning system, including measures to secure the early years workforce, the removal of the activity test and the restoration of funding for Aboriginal-led children and family centres.”
