Rebekha Sharkie (Mayo, Centre Alliance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today I rise on behalf of families in my community who are facing an urgent crisis, one that threatens not only their financial stability but also their ability to participate fully in the workforce. It is a crisis that is having a profound effect on their wellbeing, on the development of their children and on the future of our community—that is, the lack of affordable childcare services. My team have been contacted by families right across Mayo, from Kersbrook to Yankalilla, and they have shared their stories. Some of them are dual-income households and many more are mothers who are seeking to re-enter the workforce. They are losing the battle against ever-rising childcare fees—that is, if they can get a place, and that is the big key in regional Australia.

Families in my electorate did welcome the government's 2023 increase in the childcare subsidy as a necessary step towards addressing the affordability of child care in this country. However, what we have seen in practice is that many childcare providers have raised their fees to match the subsidy, leaving many families no better off. One mother shared with me and my team that the fees were raised by $15 a day, almost exactly the amount by which the childcare subsidy increased. Another parent on the Fleurieu explained that due to excessive childcare hikes at her centre, she now pays more in out-of-pocket expenses despite the increase in the subsidy. These are real people; these are not numbers on a page.

Families are being forced to make cost choices in returning to work. They are cutting back their hours to accommodate archaic income tests associated with accessing the subsidy. In most circumstances, it is mothers who bear the brunt of these decisions. That same group, not that long ago, the government were encouraging to participate more actively in the workforce. But these financial challenges do not occur in isolation. They are compounded by obstacles in accessibility. Speaking to centres across Mayo, their waitlists are ever-growing. A family in Yankalila waited over 18 months for a placement only to be told they will need to wait another year. Another from Strathalbyn shared that a reduction in work hours was the only way they could secure a place at their local centre.

This is a crisis and it is not unique to Mayo. Across the country in regional areas like ours, the lack of childcare availability is hitting families very hard, as with the rising fees. We are known as childcare deserts, where we effectively have two children waiting for every one place and the research supports this. We know that we need to do better, so what can be done? What must be done?

Firstly, we need to see strict measures to prevent childcare centres hiking their fees in line with subsidies. The government must ensure that when the childcare subsidy is raised that the benefit is passed on to families, not swallowed up by instant excessive fee increases. We need to have a regional policy for child care because so many of the new childcare centres that are built—in fact, I would say nearly all of them—are for-profit. They look to where they can make the most money. They are not making the money in regional centres where we have small centres, so they are not getting built.

We need to have a policy system that works better for regional Australia. We need to ensure there is greater flexibility. We no longer have family day care. My oldest boy went to family day care when he was little and I returned to the workforce. It was incredibly flexible. It was fantastic. His family day care provided a nurturing, kind and wonderful environment just for him, like home. But now, changes in policies have made it near impossible for family daycare providers to exist, so many have left the system.

We must bolster the early education, early childhood workforce. We need more educators, particularly in regional areas and we need to see this as a profession. This issue strikes at the heart of fairness, and we need to ensure that we're providing a safeguard so that young people today can get access to quality early childhood education. I call on the government to take immediate action. Families in Mayo and regional Australians need to have better access to child care. We can't continue to be a desert.