Sarah Hanson-Young (SA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move Greens amendment (1) on sheet 6120:

(1)    Page 3 (after line 27), at the end of the bill, add:

Part 1—Amendments

A New Tax System (Family Assistance) Act 1999

1  Subdivision A of Division 4A of Part 4 (heading)

Repeal the heading, substitute:

2  Bulk amendments

The provisions listed in the table are amended by omitting “quarter” (wherever occurring) and substituting “CCR period”.

Note 1:             The heading to section 57EA is altered by omitting “quarter” and substituting “CCR period”.

Note 2:             The heading to section 84AA is altered by omitting “quarter” and substituting “CCR period”.

A New Tax System (Family Assistance) (Administration) Act 1999

3  Subsection 3(1) (after the definition of CCB %)

Insert:

CCR period has the meaning given by section 65EAD.

4  Subdivision AA of Division 4AA of Part 3 (heading)

Repeal the heading, substitute:

5  At the end of Subdivision AA of Division 4AA of Part 3

Add:

        (1)    Subject to subsection (2), the CCR period for an individual in respect of a child is a fortnight.

        (2)    The Secretary may determine, on application by an individual in the prescribed form, that the CCR period for the individual in respect of a child is a quarter.

        (3)    A determination under subsection (2) remains in force until the Secretary determines otherwise.

6  Paragraph 66(2)(ab)

Omit “quarterly”, substitute “periodic”.

7  Bulk amendments

The provisions listed in the table are amended by omitting “quarter” (wherever occurring) and substituting “CCR period”.

Note 1: The heading to section 65EAA is altered by omitting “quarterly” and substituting “periodic”.

Note 2: The heading to subsection 65EAA(1) is altered by omitting “quarterly” and substituting “periodic”.

Note 3: The heading to section 65EAB is altered by omitting “quarterly” and substituting “periodic”.

Note 4: The heading to section 65EAC is altered by omitting “quarterly” and substituting “periodic”.

Note 5: The heading to section 175AA is altered by omitting “quarter” and substituting “period”.

Part 2—Application and transitional

8  Application

The amendments made by this Schedule apply in relation to care provided by an approved child care service to a child on or after 1 July 2010.

9  Transitional

The regulations may provide that the provisions of the A New Tax System (Family Assistance) (Administration) Act 1999 and the A New Tax System (Family Assistance) Act 1999 apply in a modified form for the purpose of the transition from a regime of quarterly payments to a regime of periodic payments (fortnightly, by default) as provided for by the amendments in this Schedule.

I spoke about this amendment in my speech in the second reading debate. This amendment will effectively allow parents to access the rebate in fortnightly payments, as opposed to having to wait until the end of every quarter, which of course is every three months. It is a way of trying to help them manage the increasing costs of child care. Other parenting payments and income support that the government pays is generally paid fortnightly. Of course, parents who use childcare do not have to wait until the end of every quarter until their fees are due. The fees have to be paid on a weekly or fortnightly basis. This is a way of helping parents budget for the increasing costs of child care. The government is not being asked to put more money into the childcare rebate. It is simply about the way it is administered.

Mitch Fifield (Victoria, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities, Carers and the Voluntary Sector) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The coalition supports the Greens’ amendment to change to fortnightly payments. I note that the infrastructure should already be in place, given that Centrelink already makes fortnightly payments. The Labor Party themselves committed to change to fortnightly payments, I think on page 6 of the Labor Party policy document, after the childcare management system was in place. But, although that is in place, the government have not moved to do so.

Steve Fielding (Victoria, Family First Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Family First support this amendment. It makes sense. Accessing the rebate in fortnightly payments would be an advantage for working families.

Mark Arbib (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Government Service Delivery) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As I said earlier, under the previous government the childcare rebate was paid annually. This placed a massive burden on families because of the long time lag between when bills were incurred and when payments were received. On coming into office we promised to pay the childcare rebate quarterly, and we have delivered on that.

Looking ahead, we will continue to monitor the childcare rebate system and listen to parents about how best we can help them manage childcare costs. We remain committed to delivering flexible and timely payments to parents. Our goal has always been to move to fortnightly payment of the childcare rebate to assist working families to meet the cost of care for their children. However, the mechanisms for the payment of the childcare rebate are complex. A further increase in the timeliness of CCR payments needs to be done through changes in third-party software being used by individual childcare providers. In addition, it would require significant changes to Centrelink systems.

The government has a responsibility to assess all these factors and other priorities in child care. We remain committed to our goal of decreasing the time lag in childcare rebate payments to parents but we do not support this amendment.

Question agreed to.

Bill, as amended, agreed to.

Bill reported with an amendment; report adopted.