Child Care, Early Education and PPL
Delivering Cheaper Child Care
Cheaper child care is good for families, good for children and good for the economy.
Child care costs have increased by 41% over the past eight years. This is a significant burden on families who may already be struggling to make ends meet.
This is why we introduced legislation to make early childhood education cheaper for Australian families.
This plan will:
- Make child care cheaper for 96% of families
- Make approximately 8900 Lilley families better off
- Lift the maximum child care Subsidy rate to 90% for families with a combined income under $80,000
- Increase subsidy rates for families earning under $530,000
- Make child care more affordable for 1.26 million families with no one being worse off
- Make Early Childhood Education more accessible for all First Nations families, who will be able to access 36 hours of subsidised care a fortnight.
- Make a family on a combined income of $120 000 save $1780 in the first year of this plan.
Find out how much your family could save here: Child Care Subsidy Calculator | CCS Calculator
Child Care is an economic investment
Affordable child care does not just benefit families; it provides amazing bang for buck as an economic investment. A review by PwC into the value of early childhood education and care in Australia found that, for every dollar we invest in child care, the country gets $2 back through productivity and workforce participation. Making child care more affordable will reward working families and allow more second-income earners, who are usually women, to work more and contribute to our economic recovery as a nation.
Expanding Paid Parental Leave
Paid Parental Leave is a proud Labor legacy. It provides financial support to working parents of newborn and newly adopted children, allows parents time to care for and get to know their new child while keeping them connected to their workplace.
By 2026 every family with a new baby will be able to access a total of six months paid leave shared between the two parents how they choose. Single parents will be able to access all 26 weeks.
As a working mum I know just how important this measure is to ensure that having a child is not an economic barrier for families.
Businesses, unions, experts and economists all understand that one of the best ways to boost productivity and participation is to provide more choice and more support for families – and more opportunity for women.
The ability for families to split their parental leave how they want is so important. For most dads and partners, two weeks is just not cutting it. In my experience, during the first two weeks my husband was off orienteering around the suburbs collecting things we’ve just discovered we need from Baby Bunting, or endless Aldi trips for more nappies (14 a day! We went through 14 a day!) Two weeks in, the baby still has their new car smell – parents want and need more time at home with their new baby.
Labor created Paid Parental Leave and now Labor is expanding it.
Walking a mile in the shoes of Northside early educators
I've said it once and I'll say it one thousand times - early educators are among the best people in the world! Early education and child care is essential family infrastructure, and it is essential family infrastructure that I, like so many parents across the Northside, could not manage without.
While many workers had to stay home during COVID lockdowns, our early educators continued to go to work every day, on the front line, putting their own health at risk, so that other essential workers could continue to work. Unfortunately, our childcare workers and early educators are not always treated like the essential workers that they are.
I will keep fighting for early educators in Parliament and on the Northside. They are champions, and deserve to be paid and treated as such.
In 2020 I had the pleasure of walking a mile in the shoes of early educators Peta and Ros at C&K Nundah to experience a sneak peak of what their day-to-day work lives are like. Check out the video below.
Recent advocacy for child care, early education and PPL in Parliament
Click the links below to see a few of my recent speeches advocating for affordable and accessible child care, early education and PPL in Parliament.
Recent advocacy for child care, early education and PPL in the media
Click the links below to see a few of my recent speeches advocating for affordable and accessible child care, early education and PPL in the media.
