23 NovSenate passes Cheaper Child Care Bill
The Federal Government’s Family Assistance Legislation Amendment (Cheaper Child Care) Bill 2022 has successfully passed through the Senate. This Bill will introduce several changes to improve access to child care for Australian families.
ELAA provided a submission on the Cheaper Child Care Bill outlining our recommendations on the proposed legislation. These recommendations included extending or removing the activity test for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families, increasing the activity test for low income, low activity families to at least two days and to extend the staff discount policy to cooks and administration staff that are paid under the Children’s Services Award.
What changes will be introduced in the Bill:
- 36 hours per fortnight of subsidised ECEC will be extended to families with Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander children, regardless of activity hours or income level
- child care providers are required to collect gap fees via electronic funds transfer only and will need to present policies and procedures that demonstrate good governance
- an increase to the maximum Child Care Subsidy (CCS) rate – from 85 per cent to 90 per cent for the first child in care and increase the CCS rate for all families earning less than $530,000 in household income which will go down by one percentage point per $5,000 addition.
Improved access to child care removes the burden from Australia’s most vulnerable families. This will assist in allowing parents to return to the workforce and help toward the development of young Australians. ELAA supports the passing of the Cheaper Child Care Bill and will continue to advocate for further access and equity for all.
To read our submission, please CLICK HERE.
