Laura Smyth (La Trobe, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Early Childhood and Child Care. Will the minister update the House on the government's childcare reforms. Minister, what benefits have they delivered for Australian families?

Kate Ellis (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Early Childhood and Childcare) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for La Trobe for her question and also for her support and advocacy in this really important area. Like me, she knows that our government has worked hard to introduce real reforms, new programs and increased investment in the vital early childhood education and care sector. We know that this is providing real support for Australian families.

On affordability, for example, we are proud to be providing record levels of financial assistance for parents to assist them with the cost of their childcare fees. We increased the childcare rebate from 30 per cent to 50 per cent. We increased the cap on that rebate from $4,354, as it sat under those opposite, up to $7,500 per child per year. And we know that this is having a real impact.

We know that the percentage of disposable income that an average family on $75,000 was spending on their childcare fees a year has reduced from some 13 per cent of disposable income under those opposite to just eight per cent now. Of course, that does not mean it is always easy but it does mean that this government has delivered real results in lightening the load on Australian parents. We also know that if the childcare rebate had stayed at the rate that it was at under those opposite, these very same families would be $1,787 worse off each and every year.

Since our efforts to increase the affordability of care we have seen a massive 20 per cent increase in demand in the sector. We have also seen such growth that there are now over 1.3 million children in Australian early childhood education and care each and every year. It has been expanding at a rapid rate as a result of our affordability increases.

But, of course, we have taken action not just on affordability but also on accessibility. We have overseen a huge expansion in the number of services and the number of places. On flexibility, we have announced trials looking at new ways that we can match up care solutions with workplace practices. On quality, just yesterday we had the opportunity to announce a $300 million Early Years Quality Fund. All of this combines to ensure that we will be spending over $23 billion over the next four years, because we know how critical this is for modern families, unlike those opposite who were spending less than a third of that in their last four years of government.

What we are seeing here is real plans, costed policies and meaningful action from our government, which stands in stark contrast to the risk that Australian families would face if those opposite were ever elected. The opposition have announced that all of these programs, all of the assistance, all of the investment, would be up for review after the election. All of this is at risk of being taken away from Australian families that rely on this vital support.