Gordon Reid (Robertson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Early Childhood Education. How is the Albanese Labor government helping to ease cost-of-living pressures in early childhood education and care for workers and families?

Anne Aly (Cowan, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Early Childhood Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Robertson not just for his question but for his continued dedication and commitment to early childhood education and care. The member for Robertson will know that this week in his electorate of Robertson and, indeed, right across Australia families will be sitting around the kitchen table working out their household budgets. For many of them, a significant factor in working out those budgets is the cost of early childhood education and care. For them, it will determine how much they can work or even in some cases if they can go back to work. It will determine how much money is left over for discretionary spending and for even putting food on the table.

Early childhood education is indeed a significant factor in the cost of living for families with young children. That's why we introduced our Family Assistance Legislation Amendment (Cheaper Child Care) Bill as one of the first acts that we did when we came into office. The latest data we have shows that these reforms have reduced out-of-pocket expenses, on average, by 13 per cent from June 2023 to June 2024. That means a family on $120,000 have saved $2,140 in early childhood education and care costs than they otherwise would have paid. In July, that same family also got a tax cut of $2,679.

Making early childhood education and care more affordable is not just about cost-of-living relief; it's actually a first step towards our vision of universal early childhood education and care. To achieve that, we know we need a sustainable workforce. That's why we introduced an historic 15 per cent wage rise. I'm pleased to say that, from today, providers can now apply. They can now apply for the government funding to deliver this wage increase. This means that 200,000 early childhood education care workers will have at least $100 more in their pay packets before Christmas. Along with their tax cuts, that means that early childhood education and care workers can earn more and keep more of what they earn. It means that we retain more workers and we build a strong and stable workforce. It means keeping costs down for families, by capping the amount that providers can increase their fees at 4.4 per cent. This is how you deliver cost-of-living relief—tax cuts, wage growth and working towards an early childhood education system that's affordable, accessible and inclusive for every child, every family and every community.