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Families face up to $1500 childcare fee hike. *NEW*
The planned changes include boosting child-staff ratios, lifting the qualifications of childcare workers and enforcing uniform standards for childcare centres in all states and territories.
The changes to improve the futures of Australia's 830,000 children in government-approved childcare centres are due to be implemented from July 1 next year.
According to childcare groups the cost impost will be forced on families who, so far, are not aware of the extent of planned changes.
"The bells should be ringing inside the Government that parents are going to have to pay up to $1500 a year more or treble that if you have three children,'' Chris Buck of the Child Care National Association said.
"We support quality affordable and accessible childcare, but the risk being run by the Government is that fewer families will be able to afford it. If perceived quality goes up, so do costs.
"And these costs could even exceed $1500 because certain quality increases are so far undefined and therefore uncosted."
Under the planned federal changes one carer would be responsible for three toddlers under two years of age. In NSW the ratio is at present one carer for every five toddlers.
A COAG Regulation Impact Statement has suggested the out-of-pocket costs could go up by a minimum of $9.60 per child per week, and rise by as much as $29.65 per week under one option which is being considered.
Under one scenario outlined in the Government's own consultation document, childcare costs could eventually jump by $125 per child per week or $6500 a year if all the changes put forward were to be implemented.
Helen Brown of Bondi already spends $800 a month in sending her daughter Lara, 3, to childcare for four days a week.
"I think that if prices go up much more it will make [childcare] too expensive for many people," Ms Brown said yesterday.
Daily Telegraph - August 17, 2009.
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