How the parties compare in 2022 on childcare policy this federal election

It is all about addressing high fees, low wages, not enough places and quality staff retention in the sector. Childcare has been difficult to navigate during the pandemic, but it has been free for a period.

Sometimes seen as a women's issue or middle class welfare, it is actually a family and wider economy issue. It is accepted that increasing female workforce participation significantly boosts economic growth. A Grattan Institute report in 2020 found an additional $5 billion a year in childcare spending would boost GDP by about $11 billion a year through higher workforce participation.

Under the current system, the government pays a childcare subsidy (CCS) directly to childcare centres, at a rate determined by the income of the family. As the family income grows, the amount of subsidy tapers away, in a system designed to offer more support to low income earners.

The CCS was first introduced in 2018 as a means-tested subsidy to ensure families who earn the least have the most support.

The Liberal-National Coalition fast-tracked targeted measures in early March worth an extra $1.7 billion over three years to make childcare more affordable and allow more parents into full-time work.

Announced in the 2021 budget, the changes are targeted at families with more than one child as well as low and middle income families who earn $130,000 or less a year.

The government dropped the annual $10,655 child care subsidy cap for families with combined income of more than $190,015. As well, the childcare subsidy for families with two or more children aged five and under has increased to a maximum of 95 per cent, up from 85 per cent. The government says it will benefit about 250,000 families and boost GDP by up to $1.5 billion.

Labor has more broader plans to make children more affordable. Like the government, it has also pledged to scrap the $10,560 child care subsidy cap, but it also lifts the maximum child care subsidy rate to 90 per cent and increases child care subsidy rates for every family earning less than $530,000. Labor also reduces the rate at which the subsidy reduces as family income increases. Labor says 97 per cent of families will be better off.

If elected, the ALP will ask the Productivity Commission and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to look into and report on the early childhood education and care sector.

Labor would also force childcare operators to publish their revenue and profit each year and ban the use of inducements like iPads to enrol if elected, as part of a push for transparency in a sector.

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The Greens, which are seeking to hold the balance of power in the next parliament, have announced a $19 billion plan for free and universal early childhood education and care. This means free, inclusive and culturally appropriate care irrespective of location and and how much the parents earn.

It also wants to extend universal access to early childhood education for all three- and four-year-olds to 24 hours a week.

The Greens also stand for better pay rates and improved working conditions for the sector's workers, as well as increased and targeted funding for community-based or government-run childcare centres. It wants private for-profit early childhood education and care operators phased out. The Greens say they support 'culturally safe, integrated, community-controlled early childhood services' for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families.

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