Susan Templeman (Macquarie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I think what we've been hearing this afternoon shows just how out of touch with regular families those on the government benches are. I suggest they do what I did and pop a post on Facebook and ask families directly: 'How's it going? How are you managing your childcare costs compared to your incomes?' Let me tell you some of the things women in the Hawkesbury and Blue Mountains told me. In response to the question, 'Is it tough?' Em says:

Yep, in this boat. It just doesn't make financial sense for me to work full time right now. I tried. It wasn't worth it.

Now, what does that say about women's participation? And this chamber has got a lot of women in it right at this moment—more women in it, I would guess, than men. We should be trying to make the pathway for women to get into careers easier than it currently is. Melissa said:

I choose to work part time. It wouldn't be worth increasing my days because higher income=higher daycare fees.

That's the reality that women face. Liz says:

Daycare fees is a very depressing topic in my household. With my second son I was finishing teaching pracs so had no income but had to have him in fulltime care from 5 months old to get it done. Then when I started casual teaching, I worked 5 days a week which took us over the maximum hours on the old CCR/CCB system and not much changed when it went to CCS—

that's the current childcare subsidy—

He will start school next year.

You might think that means she'll breathe that sigh of relief you breathe when your kids are about to start school and you think, 'No more childcare fees!' But, no, Liz is having another baby in December, and of course that is wonderful news. But she says she plans to go back one to two days a week simply based on the fact that she'll be paying day care fees for the baby and before- and after-school care fees for her six-year-old. That's the reality that women are facing. For years, when their children are young, they are making choices about whether to fully engage in their careers, not necessarily because they don't want to but because they can't afford child care.

Karen says:

Childcare is a huge challenge for families—

and it isn't just the fees when you add in all the other complications—

1. You need to be on multiple waiting lists because trying to get a spot is next to impossible.

2. When a spot comes up, you need to take whatever day(s) are offered, even if it's only one day (which is all I've been able to secure at this stage).

3. Whilst waiting for day 1 of childcare, you worry about the out of pocket expenses.

Her little one is due to start in early childhood education in a few weeks. She says, 'I have no idea about the gap amount I need to pay on the day rate of $132. It's nerve-racking for jobseekers and current employees alike as to what flexibility your employer might require of you, so trying to seek the days you can is like a chicken and egg situation.' That is what women are facing right across the country.

Alison tells me that 'the net take-home pay after day care, particularly for families with multiples, is not much until the career improves'. Again, if you've taken significant time out of your career, that is even harder to do. 'For women who don't earn good money,' she says, 'there are plenty of barriers to the workforce regarding the entry. For many, who cannot even cover day care, it takes a special partner to allow family finances to go into negative for a short period of time while you re-establish your career.'

That is reality. This is what women were telling me in the last week about how they are struggling with the choices they are having to make. That's why we desperately need changes. Laura recognised that free childcare made a huge difference to us during COVID. That was something that gave women a taste. It was tantalising, this taste of how you could actually have some freedom to make choices around the work you do—and then it was just whipped away from them within weeks. That's what we want to see changes to. We want to make it so much easier for families. Whether the secondary income earner is a woman or a man, we want their choices to be easier—by scrapping the childcare subsidy cap, by lifting the maximum childcare subsidy to 90 per cent and by making sure that we increase the subsidy rates and taper them smoothly so that every family has a chance to fulfil their career potential and their parenting duties.

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