Anthony Albanese is facing calls to bring forward his promise to make childcare much cheaper for all Australian families to the beginning of next year.
In one of his key election pledges, the Labor leader promised a review into a 90 per cent subsidy for everyone.
The move could save a family earning $100,000 about $3,900 for one child in care five days a week.
A family on $175,000 could save about $10,400 a year and higher earners would save even more.
Labor Leader Anthony Albanese visits a childcare centre in Kalamunda, which is in Coalition-held seat of Hasluck on May 16. Labor won the seat at the election
Labor has not set a timeline on the universal subsidy but has vowed to increase subsidies to provide more modest savings by July 2023.
Before the 90 per cent subsidy can be implemented, Labor will order a review by the Productivity Commission and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to make sure prices are regulated so providers don’t simply jack up their fees.
But Elizabeth Death, chief executive of the Early Learning and Care Council of Australia, believes these can be done quickly and wants the 90 per cent subsidy in place by January 2023.
‘We would love to see that high subsidy rate in place as quickly as possible. We know families need the support,’ she told Daily Mail Australia on Wednesday.
‘We want the government to move quickly because unless the services are cheaper and more affordable for families then we’re actually not offering the same opportunities to all children.
‘We’ve got some children who can’t access early learning because of cost.
She added: ‘We know that early learning makes such an impact on children’s well-being and parents rely on it to participate in the workforce.
‘So that’s why we are strongly supportive of bringing that forward as fast as possible.’
Ms Death said the Coalition proved it was possible to make changes quickly after Scott Morrison rapidly made childcare cheaper for second children during Covid.
‘We saw the Morrison government enact their policy very quickly around the second and subsequent children which was a great affordability measure,’ she said.
‘We know that the legislative and administrative work has to happen but we’ve got a track record now that the departments can pull out all stops and we can do this in a shorter timeframe.
‘We would be hopeful it would be commencing at the beginning of 2023,’ she said, referring to the 90 per cent universal subsidy.
Labor has not set a timeline on the universal subsidy but has vowed to increase subsidies to provide more modest savings by July 2023
‘The productivity inquiry and ACCC inquiry – they will need to be done very quickly but there needs to be work done in the background to get this up and running.
‘I don’t believe that that’s an impossibility’.
Under a universal 90 per cent subsidy, a family earning $100,000 would see their subsidy increase from the current 75 per cent rate for the first child.
This would save them $3,900 based on a cost for one child before subsidies of $26,000 a year.
A family earning $178,000 would pay only $2,600 a year instead of $13,000, saving them $10,400 a year.
Families earning more than $400,000, who currently get no subsidies, would save $23,400.
In the meantime, Labor has pledged to increase child care subsidy rates for every family earning less than $530,000, costing taxpayers $5.4 billion over four years.
Sarah Mawhinney, Executive Director of the McKell Institute, said: ‘The economic and social benefits of decreasing the costs of child care cannot be understated.
‘Reducing the cost of child care will have a real and immediate impact, relieving cost of living pressures many families face.
‘Crucially steps to reduce child care costs could serve to have the additional impact of increasing female workforce participation.
‘Affordable child care will allow women previously excluded from the workforce due to the prohibitive costs of child care greater flexibility when making decisions about re-entering the workforce after maternity leave.’
This table shows Labor’s increased subsidies based on income. It hopes to bring these in and also conduct a productivity review into a universal 90 per cent subsidy