The Productivity Commission has warned of the many challenges that childcare is facing. A report into the sector is urging the Federal Government to change the childcare subsidy, and increase access to early education for children across Australia.
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00:00 This is an early report and it has a bunch of draft recommendations. Among them, the
00:07 Productivity Commission is proposing to alter the subsidy to allow families to access up
00:12 to three days of subsidised childcare, regardless of the hours that they've worked. Another
00:18 big recommendation that they've made is to fully subsidise childcare for families with
00:24 the lowest incomes, families who are earning under $80,000 a year annually. And this would
00:30 really bring in some of the lowest families, as I said, into and give them access to childcare.
00:38 Of course, though, the Productivity Commission has acknowledged, though, that there are significant
00:43 challenges facing the industry and these recommendations and these policies would not work unless some
00:49 of these challenges are addressed. Here is, just a short time ago, speaking to the ABC,
00:54 the Productivity Commissioner's Assistant Commissioner, Professor Deborah Brennan. Take
00:58 a listen.
00:59 We've identified in our inquiry that more than half the services in Australia are not
01:05 operating at capacity because they simply can't get the educators and the teachers.
01:11 So improving the pay and conditions of early childhood educators and teachers is a vital
01:17 first step. And unless we do that, we can't move anywhere with this reform agenda.
01:22 Mike, what's the current situation for parents and families?
01:26 Well, right now, there were changes made to the subsidy back in July, and there were increases
01:31 made to the subsidy for really most families on most income levels, except if you're on
01:38 the top end, the really high end, big earners. But there is a feeling amongst parents and
01:43 families that given the cost of living crisis, prices of childcare is going up. And these
01:49 costs have been passed on to families and any benefits that they had in the middle of
01:56 the year has now been soaked up by inflation. We spoke with a few parents and families this
02:01 morning. Take a listen.
02:02 I think it made things obviously a little bit easier to afford. It's still quite expensive
02:08 at the moment, though, and the process is relatively complex.
02:12 We want to return back to the workforce, but it's not really motivating this way. Even
02:17 like I'm working four days a week, and if I would ever want to go back five days a week,
02:22 it's just not really, you know, there's not enough subsidies.
02:26 So it's a challenging time for families and for parents. The Federal Education Minister,
02:31 Jason Clare, has responded to these recommendations this morning in a very brief statement. He
02:37 says that the Productivity Commission's inquiry will help chart a course to a universal early
02:42 childhood education and care system, and he says, I encourage all those interested to
02:46 provide feedback on the draft report. And that's what it is. It is a draft report. These
02:51 are draft recommendations. There will be community consultation now before the Productivity Commission
02:57 hands down a final report next year.
02:59 [BLANK_AUDIO]