According to a report from the Australian Department of Education, nearly one million Australian families use childcare services, spending an average of $12 per hour.
Childcare Educator Alice Baker said she works at a sizable centre that accommodates more than 150 children daily.
“Some families apply for multiple centres before they can find a spot for their child due to the high demand.
“It is expensive to put your child into a centre and these subsidies are allowing more parents to work without worrying about their children.”
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has spent the last year researching how childcare services are working within Australian communities. Their findings showed that childcare isn’t an affordable or accessible option for most families, and subsidies aren’t proving helpful. The ACCC saying “a one size fits all policy” is not the right strategy for the future of childcare.
Current figures released by the Department of Education show a large percentage of children across Australia are in desperate need of such services. New South Wales leads with the highest proportion of children attending approved care at 32.3 per cent, closely followed by Victoria and Queensland.
Figure 1 Source: Department of Education extracted from Childcare data subsidy report
The childcare subsidy aims to enhance the affordability of childcare services for Australians. This financial assistance is disbursed directly to authorised childcare providers, enabling families or caregivers to pay reduced fees.
Figure 2 Source: Department of Education from the childcare subsidy report.
From October 1 to December 31 in 2023, the Australian Government reportedly allocated approximately $3.54 billion to subsidies, marking an increase of 26.9 per cent from the preceding quarter. Of the estimated childcare subsidies, 86.2 per cent was attributed to centre-based day-care fees, with only 8.3 per cent allocated to out-of-school-hours care during the same period.