Tanya Plibersek (Sydney, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Childcare) Share this | Hansard source

I want to turn now to the question of child-care costs. The minister has admitted recently that child-care costs have risen ‘significantly’—and that is his word—although he rejects the figures on fee increases in long day care that are derived from data published by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, and also answers supplied by the previous minister, Senator Kay Patterson.

Consumer price index figures published by the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that child-care fees are rising at about five times the rate of other goods and services bought by Australian parents. In 2002-03, the cost of child care rose by 17 per cent while the general CPI rose by only 3.1 per cent. In 2003-04, child care increased by another 12.2 per cent while the general CPI rose by three per cent. In 2004-05, child care increased by another 12.4 per cent compared to a rise in the general CPI of 2½ per cent. So CPI figures for the first quarter of this year show that child-care costs have increased by more than five per cent in just three months compared to a general inflation rate of 0.9 per cent. The 5.1 per cent increase for child care is a huge rise for just one quarter of the year—the largest in almost three years. The Australian Bureau of Statistics household expenditure survey shows that, between 1998-99 and 2003-04, child-care fees have risen by 34 per cent. Answers to questions on notice supplied by Family and Community Services last year, combined with historical data compiled by the Institute of Health and Welfare, showed increases at around the 50 per cent mark for full-time care in long day care centres.

The minister has rejected these figures although they have been provided by respectable bodies which include his own department. But he has admitted that the rises have been significant. I would like to hear from the minister what he believes the actual rises in the cost of child care have been and how he believes the rises should be calculated and what result that gives him.

I also want to ask the minister about the shortage of family day care workers. Family day care is one area of the federal budget that is uncapped. Unfortunately, before the uncapping there were already 30,000 undelivered places in the system because of a nationwide shortage of family day care workers. I note that the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations notes in its recent skills in demand list that there are shortages of child-care workers and directors in every state and territory. Were the 30,000 places that were undelivered before the last budget allocated to schemes in the past? Were schemes asking for those places or is the actual situation that schemes were not asking for those places because they simply did not have the workers to care for the children? I want to know if the reason there were so many undelivered places before the cap was lifted was simply that there were not enough family day care workers because—and I think family day care workers would agree with this—their wages are insufficient given the important and valuable work that they do.

I also want to know from the minister what evidence there is that lifting the cap is going to make any difference at all in the number of family day care places actually delivered, given that we have 30,000 unused places in the system that are undelivered for a variety of reasons, mostly because there are not enough family day care workers as the remuneration is not good enough. How is lifting the cap going to make a single bit of earthly difference to the actual delivery of family day care places to families on the ground? (Time expired)

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