QUALITY CHILDCARE MUST BE AFFORDABLE

29-October-2009

While parents want quality childcare, any changes to quality standards must be affordable and must deliver real and positive outcomes for the whole of the childcare sector, Shadow Minister for Childcare Sophie Mirabella said today following the launch of Early Childhood Australia’s “Hands up for Quality Campaign”.

 “While this campaign is well intentioned, it really is time for the Rudd Government to come clean about the costs to parents of their childcare reforms,” Mrs Mirabella said.

 “The fact is, higher quality comes at a premium price. Parents should decide if they are really unhappy with their current childcare, whether or not they are wiling to pay an extra $100 a week to make it that little bit better.”

  “Urging the Government to push the current proposals through COAG has the potential to add massively to childcare costs for parents – and we haven’t been given the full picture on the Government’s plan.”

 Mrs Mirabella said she did not question the claims that quality childcare is important to parents.

 “Asking parents if they want better quality care is a bit like asking if they support motherhood.  Of course they do.  However, when it comes to the childcare system we need to know exactly what is broken, what needs to be fixed, how it will be fixed, and how much it will cost.”

 “The Rudd Government has failed to recognise how the changes will impact on different sectors of the industry – particularly the private small businesses that provide the majority of childcare in this country. They’ve expressed real concerns and it would be wrong to rush and push through the current proposal without addressing those concerns and being upfront with parents.”

 Mrs Mirabella said that estimates on the costs to parents of the Government reforms varied wildly, even within the document the Government has put forward for public consultation.

 “It is very clear that parents are not being told how much costs are expected to rise.  In fact, they are being misled into thinking that the rise will be minimal.  That is clearly not going to be the case with some estimates in the industry ranging from increases of $20 to $40 a day.”

 “There was a recent independent economic analysis, commissioned by Childcare Queensland,  that found costs would rise by over $13 a day – not the “few dollars” the Minister has tried to assert,” Mrs Mirabella said.

 “In fact, on the independent modelling, the annual increase would be in excess of $3000 dollars each year – and that’s just for 1 child.  If parents are forced out of childcare because it becomes too expensive, that’s hardly fair or equitable.”

 Mrs Mirabella said that many parents believed that there was not going to be any cost-impact because at the last election Labor promised quality reforms and that they would also “slash childcare costs for parents”. 

  “It’s very wrong to characterise discussion about out-of-pocket costs for parents as a “scare campaign”. The reality is that parents will have to pay.  Any increase in fees at this time when we have rising unemployment and economic uncertainty will be a burden on working families, and this has to be balanced against the need for a high-quality childcare system.”

 “Hands up those parents who want to know exactly how much the Rudd Government’s childcare agenda is going to mean for the family budget?”