Tony Zappia (Makin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I welcome the opportunity to also speak in support of the Family Assistance Legislation Amendment (Child Care Rebate) Bill 2011. This bill builds on the government’s previous measures to assist families with childcare costs. After the 2007 election, the government increased the childcare rebate from 30 per cent to 50 per cent. The government increased the annual cap to $7,500 and gave families the option of having the rebate paid quarterly.

Under the measures in this bill, as from July 2011 families will have the choice of four options for receiving the childcare rebate. It can be paid weekly or fortnightly directly to the childcare service provider, it can be paid weekly or fortnightly directly into their bank account, or it can be paid into their bank account quarterly. Families will retain the existing option to receive the childcare rebate annually as a lump sum paid into their bank account. The childcare sector has grown over the last couple of decades as, more and more often, both parents remain in the workforce in order to meet their cost of living. Increasing the frequency of payments will assist families and childcare centres with their cashflow.

The childcare industry has become very competitive and, not surprisingly, providers under competitive pressures may be cutting costs, resulting in centres not meeting accreditation standards. This was exposed in a report released by the National Childcare Accreditation Council only last week. That report revealed amongst other things that 29 per cent of the centres failed to implement effective and current food, safety and hygiene practices. Whilst many centres were doing well, too many failed to meet basic standards. The proposal to establish a public rating standard for childcare centres next year should lift standards and help parents with their choice of childcare provider. Noncompliance with standards, I believe, highlights the pressure and demands childcare workers are under—work pressure for which childcare workers are inadequately valued and remunerated.

Over the years, I have visited numerous childcare centres and spoken with childcare centre operators and their staff. On 10 August last year I participated in the United Voice—formerly the Liquor, Hospitality and Miscellaneous Union—Big Steps in Childcare national campaign aimed at reforming the childcare sector. On that day I went to the Golden Grove Bubble ‘n’ Squeak Child Development Centre in my electorate of Makin. For almost 2½ hours I walked in the shoes of a childcare worker by working as a childcare worker. I was very thankful that I had a terrific crew from Bubble ‘n’ Squeak to guide and assist me on the day. I not only thank them for allowing me to work with them and making my time there so pleasant but also commend them for how well they all went about their tasks and for the relationships they had developed with the children.

The experience provided me with an insight into the skills, the responsibilities, the professionalism and the physical and mental demands of the work required to care for infant children, each with their individual personality, behaviour and needs. It requires an extraordinary ability to be a childcare worker. Their duties and skills include but are not limited to: caring for the children; tending to the children’s emotional and physical needs; teaching them; keeping track of how the child is growing, learning and behaving and discussing any needs with their parents; helping children with their dressing, eating, sleeping and toileting; having first aid knowledge and attending to any injuries, illness or medication that is required; and organising activities that stimulate children’s physical, emotional, intellectual and social growth. In addition to all that they have to provide children with healthy meals and ensure that they are kept in a safe and clean environment. It is a huge responsibility.

The childcare workers I have met have all been committed to delivering the highest quality care and ensuring that the professional standards of the industry are met. The children’s wellbeing is upmost in their minds, but they too need to be better supported with better wages and upskilling opportunities if they are in turn to comply with all of the standards expected of them and if they are to stay in the industry. We must ensure that we do not place them—that is, the staff—under more pressure by expecting higher standards without providing them with the support they need. We entrust into their care our precious infant children. We expect them to have relevant qualifications, we expect them to comply with extensive public standards, but then we ask them to work for low wages and inadequate upskilling opportunities.

Given the level of responsibility of childcare workers and the remuneration and career advancement pathways available to them, it is little wonder that there is a shortage of childcare workers and that they exit the industry in the numbers that they do. The shortage will only be exacerbated if we want them to lift their qualifications without a commensurate lifting of their wages. It is expected that by 2013 there will a shortage nationally of around 7,300 childcare workers. It is not surprising that, given the range of compliance standards that apply to the industry and the excessive demands on workers, standards are not always being met. United Voice are to be commended for their campaign in support of childcare workers, and I am pleased to add my voice to their campaign and to their efforts on behalf of childcare workers throughout Australia.

Over the four years to 2013-14, the government will be providing $14.9 billion to help 800,000 Australian families with the cost of child care. This is made up of $8.7 billion from the childcare benefit and $6.2 billion from the childcare rebate. Overall the government has now committed more than $18 billion over four years to early childhood education and child care, which is more than double that provided by the Howard government in its last four years in office. This is one of a number of measures that the government has taken to assist families in raising their children.

In 2008, the government introduced the education tax refund, which allows families to claim 50 per cent of eligible education expenses. To preserve its value, the education tax refund is linked to the consumer price index. For the 2010-11 tax year, the maximum refund is $794 for high school children and $397 for primary school children. Eligible expenses include the cost of buying, establishing, repairing and maintaining any of the following items: home computers and laptops; computer related equipment such as printers, USB flash drives and disability aids to assist in the use of computer equipment for students with special needs; computer repairs; home internet connections; computer software for educational use; school textbooks and other printed learning materials, including prescribed textbooks, associated learning materials, study guides and stationery; and prescribed trade tools for secondary school trade courses. From 1 July this year, it will be extended to include school uniforms bought in the new financial year.

The Medicare Teen Dental Plan was also introduced in 2008. It provides a voucher for a preventative dental check for eligible teenagers each calendar year. By the end of October last year over one million dental checks had been provided to teenagers under this scheme. Under the Medicare Teen Dental Plan eligible families can claim up to $159.85 for teens having a preventative dental check consisting of an oral examination that may include X-rays, a scale and clean, fluoride treatment, oral hygiene instruction, dietary advice and fissure sealing.

The government also delivered its third round of tax cuts in 2010, as promised in the 2007 election, providing further assistance to help families with living costs. For example, these tax cuts will mean that a family with two young children—where one person earns $60,000 and their partner earns $27,000—will be $40.38 per week, or around $2,100 a year, better off.

As a number of other speakers have pointed out—and it is perhaps the most important thing that the government could do for child care in this country—there was also the introduction of 18 weeks paid parental leave. I understand that some 148,000 families per year are expected to be eligible for that 18 weeks of paid parental leave. If we want to support children, I do not think that anyone would disagree that the best thing that we can do is ensure that their parents are able to be with them, particularly in the early months after their birth. I could go on with other examples of how this government has assisted families, whether it be in health, in education or in housing. This is simply another measure with which the government has made a clear differentiation between this government and the previous Howard government in showing its respect for families.

There is another group that will also benefit as a result of having quality childcare services available to parents, and that is grandparents. One of the realities of today’s society is that many parents leave their children with grandparents to care for them because both parents work. Sometimes it is a case of single parents who have no choice other than to leave them with grandparents if they do not have access to a quality childcare centre in close proximity or if they cannot afford one. There is no question at all that grandparents are increasingly taking responsibility for the care of infant children. By ensuring that we have an affordable and quality childcare service available, I believe that more parents will place their children in the care of an accredited childcare centre. This in turn, I believe, will free up the lives of the grandparents who are otherwise having to devote their lives to assisting their children. So there are benefits all round in having quality childcare services available.

I started by saying that this is one a number of measures that the government has implemented in order to assist families with the cost of living. I believe the amendments in this bill do that, and for that reason I commend the bill to the House.

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