Giving Australia a better, fairer child care system

New analysis has revealed the suburbs and regions that are the biggest winners from the Turnbull Government’s child care changes that begin tomorrow, 2 July.

 

Minister for Education and Training Simon Birmingham said while data showed the average working family would gain an extra $1,300 each year per child, the new analysis highlighted families in some areas could be as much as $2,792 better off annually for each child.

 

Minister Birmingham said the biggest winners would be families on lower incomes as well as families working the most.

 

“This is about delivering more support for more families,” Minister Birmingham said.

 

“Nearly one million families are set to benefit from our changes and analysis shows they will mean families are hundreds, if not thousands of dollars a year better off.

 

“There’s still time left for those families who have left the switchover to the last minute. Don’t wait, get it done now. All you need to do is update your details through myGov or visit www.education.gov.au/childcare.

 

“Although we want everyone eligible to switchover before Monday to ensure no disruption to their payments, we have also put in place a safety net that will allow back payments to be made within the first three months of operation.”
 
 Minister Birmingham said the Government understood how tough families had been doing it with the costs of child care.

 

“Our plan for a stronger economy means we can deliver relief for families and guarantee the essential services like child care support,” Minister Birmingham said.

 

“We know how tough some families have been doing it with cost of living pressures, including strain on household budgets because of the cost of child care.

 

“The Turnbull Government’s tax relief for working Australians and our improved child care subsidy are about putting more money back in the pockets of families and making it worthwhile to work that extra day or those extra few hours. 

 

“One of the key goals of these changes is to make re-joining the workforce or being able to pick up more work that bit easier by offering a child care system that is more affordable and flexible for more families.

 

“This is the most significant improvement to child care support in around 40 years. It means $2.5 billion extra investment as well as reforms retargeting subsidies to people working the most and to families earning the least, abolishing the $7,500 annual rebate cap for most families and introducing an hourly fee cap to put downward pressure on fee increases.”