Anthony Chisholm (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Education) Share this | Hansard source

I thank those senators who've spoken on the Family Assistance Legislation Amendment (Cheaper Child Care) Bill 2022 for their contributions to this debate. It's a bill which is good for children, good for families and good for our economy. It will support the development of our youngest Australians in those crucial early years. It will provide more choice to parents, in particular women, in choosing to re-enter the workforce and work more hours, which is so desperately needed in the economy.

Treasury estimates that these measures will unlock the equivalent of up to 37,000 full-time workers in the first year alone. It will make early education and care cheaper for more than a million families. It will introduce a base level of 36 subsidised hours per fortnight of early childhood education for First Nations children as well. It will improve transparency and integrity measures in the sector, and it delivers on a key commitment made to Australian families in the 2022 federal election.

I thank Senator Pocock for his contributions to this bill, and the government will support those amendments. This bill has won widespread support from families, the business community and the early childhood education and care sector, and I commend it to the chamber.