Alan Tudge (Aston, Liberal Party, Minister for Education and Youth) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the requested amendment be made.

The Family Assistance Amendment (Child Care Subsidy) Amendment Bill was passed by the House on 5 August this year and by the Senate this morning, and that is very good news for the 250,000 families who will be beneficiaries of this bill. However, during the debate in the Senate, the government introduced amendments to the bill, and those amendments corrected a technical drafting error in the formula that calculates the higher rate of subsidy for the second child and any younger children aged five and under. This was a technical error that was picked up during the debating process. The government has quickly put through an amendment to fix it, hence our coming back to the House in order to pass that particular amendment. The amendment ensures that the bill gives effect to the full policy intent of the measure, just as the system build is already doing. I want to thank the opposition, particularly the shadow spokesperson, for supporting this bill and supporting this amendment, and seeing that it be done expeditiously as well.

I remind the House that the passage of this bill will allow us to implement a policy so that 250,000 Australian families using child care who have the greatest workforce disincentives will benefit from reduced out-of-pocket expenses. It further supports the one million Australian families using child care so that parents, especially women, can return to work or work more hours if they choose. By increasing the subsidy for families with a second or third child, 250,000 families will be better off by an average of $2,260 per year. Families will be better off by up to $185 a week for second or subsequent children in care. For a family on $110,000—which is the median income for families who use the childcare system—if they have two children in full-time child care, once this system comes into place they will be $120 per week better off. So that's money in the pockets of those families. It also means it creates an incentive for those parents, particularly women, to do those extra days of work if they want to or to indeed go back to work if they want to. By implementing these measures, we get rid of some of those disincentives. That's the power of this bill. It is targeted at those families with two or more children in the childcare system. It is measured and built on the existing childcare scheme, which, as you know, is designed to most support those families with the least amount of means and taper off for those families who have the most means at their disposal.

The Treasury estimates this will also have a significant economic impact. The Treasury estimates the impact will be a $1.5 billion boost to the economy. That will come about because an estimated 40,000 people will be doing more hours of work as a result of removing these disincentives. This is why the Business Council of Australia CEO, Jennifer Westacott, says in relation to this bill, 'It's good for mums and dads, it's good for businesses and it's good for the economy.' I couldn't have said that better myself. This bill is good for mums and dads, good for businesses and good for the economy. It's going to make a real difference to those cost-of-living pressures. It will remove some of those workforce disincentives. It's going to add to economic growth, and, in doing so, create further jobs.

I commend this bill and this amendment to the House. I once again thank the opposition for their cooperation in being able to deal with this amendment today, and I look forward to the passage of this bill and the implementation of this scheme so that 250,000 families can be better off.

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