The latest data from the early education and care sector shows the Turnbull Government has continued the downward trend in child care price increases.
Minister for Education and Training Simon Birmingham said new departmental data showed average child care hourly fees grew by 5.2 per cent in the year to September 2015, well-below the 10 year September quarter average of 6.7 per cent and 7.4 per cent during Labor’s last term in office.
“While these numbers show tangible benefits for families from the Coalition’s policies to date, they also reinforce the importance of our plans to cap hourly fee subsidies and better target payments,” Minister Birmingham said.
“The Turnbull Government’s reforms to child care are set to benefit around one million Australians and give hard working low and middle income families an average extra $30 a week in support.
“Our child care package will deliver the greatest support to those families working the most hours and earning the least. It has been designed after extensive consultation and with tough measures to constrain fee growth.
“The extensive work we’ve done on our reforms stands in stark contrast to Labor’s 2008 change to the Child Care Rebate without any check on what providers could charge, resulting in an 11 per cent child care price spike in September that year meaning families and taxpayers pay more.
“Instead of learning from this mistake, Labor’s election policy showed it had failed to come up with anything more constructive than recycling their failed policies and throwing more money at the same, broken system.
“Having lost the election I hope Labor will abandon their flawed policy and work with the Turnbull Government to see our childcare reforms implemented as soon as possible.”
Average early education and care fee increase (September quarterly data)
Source: Department of Education and Training, September 2015 quarter Early Childhood and Child Care in Summary
The Early Childhood and Child Care in Summary (September quarter 2015) report is available at the Department of Education and Training’s website – https://www.education.gov.au/child-care-update