Fiona Nash (NSW, National Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Perhaps if I could just ask the minister in the first instance if she could give a bit more detail by way of background around the privacy issue that has been raised. I know there has been a fair bit of discussion in the chamber today around those concerns about the privacy issues. I note that Senator Moore raised this a little while ago. While we are broadly supportive of the bill—there is no doubt about that—I think it is very important if we could have on record the detail around the consideration the government gave to this particular area and the consultation that was taken with industry and, if available, with parent groups.

Kate Lundy (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Changes to the confidentiality provisions will benefit individuals by allow­ing agencies to share an individual's information where the individual has given consent. Individuals will no longer have to go to multiple agencies to provide the same information. By way of further clarification, information held by the department for family assistance law purposes is protected and, despite the amendment providing for disclosure for certain purposes, this does not offend the Privacy Act as the disclosure is authorised by law and therefore the Privacy Act does not apply to that disclosure.

It is also important to remember that disclosure of information will only be for certain purposes that will streamline the administration for families and services. It will not be disclosed for any other purposes. I trust that satisfies Senator Nash's query.

It is probably timely for me to also reflect in a little more detail about the improve­ments in controls on the administration of child care. I am happy to go into that now, unless Senator Nash has more specific questions she would like to ask.

Fiona Nash (NSW, National Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

No.

Kate Lundy (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thanks for indicating that, Senator Nash. The changes to family assistance law will increase controls of the recovery of childcare benefit and other childcare assistance payments made to childcare services by extending the offsetting and debt recovery provisions. Currently, the debts of one childcare service may be recovered only from that service. I mentioned this briefly in my summing up but I will just provide a little more detail. These changes will allow the debts of one service to be recovered from another service operated by the same operator and, as I mentioned, this will make them more accountable and provide for more flexible arrangements for services.

Where a service notifies that they are ceasing to operate, the changes will allow recovery of enrolment advances made to the service to commence immediately. This will also allow ceasing of further enrolment advances during the notification period. These changes will mean that services do not incur debts that need to be resolved at the point that they cease operating. Many services that cease are surprised when they receive debt notifications at this point, so I think it will be a very important clarification and change within the sector. Changes to the absence provisions will clarify when an absence can be considered to have permanently ceased and services will be less likely to be noncompliant through misinter­pretation of the family assistance law.

Another area that I think it is timely to mention is how the changes will improve childcare services through compliance with the childcare benefit requirements. The overnight collapse of ABC Learning took everyone by surprise. I know a number of senators have commented on that. We did take decisive action to ensure continued care for the almost 100,000 families impacted. We are continuing to support the sector and families to ensure that such an occurrence does not occur again.

I think the issue of strengthening the childcare approvals processes will place us in really good stead. It is something that the sector, I know, is very supportive of. It allows the secretary to refuse a childcare service's application for childcare benefit approval unless the operator has been previously approved for childcare benefit and has a history of noncompliance as I mentioned.

Fiona Nash (NSW, National Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Education) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Minister; that was very useful. Can I also just ask about the current debt that is owed. The most recent figure that we have was an indication in estimates in 2010 that current debt was around $70 million and related to 6,000 children in care. Please clarify that if I am incorrect. Is that figure still correct, have there been any changes to that and what is the understanding and expectation of government of the speed of reduction of that debt? Is there any time frame in mind by which that level—if indeed that is still the case or whatever the current level is—will be reduced as a result of this legislation being introduced?

One of the areas that has been highlighted with the introduction of this legislation is that there has been a significant cost to taxpayers as a result of the current arrangements. As I indicated before, I think there is concern out there in the community that a figure of that magnitude—around $70 million—is caught up in a bureaucratic process. While I certainly understand that the intent of the legislation is to address that, it would be useful for the chamber if we had some information surrounding the current level and indeed the expectation from the government of improvements to that level that will be made by the legislation that we are dealing with today.

Kate Lundy (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Nash. I am advised that the debt, as you say, was around $70 million but that is now down to around $10 million and it is expected that these measures will continue to see that level of debt fall.

Given we are talking about the general issue of this bill, it is probably useful for me to share with you at this time some of this government's credentials with regard to child care and improving affordable access to quality child care. Senator Nash, I know you are aware that overall we are investing $18.2 billion in funding for early childhood education and child care over the next four years, almost $11 billion more than provided in the last four years of the former government.

In the June quarter of 2010 we provided $812.6 million to assist Australian families with the cost of child care in the form of the childcare benefit and childcare rebate. We know that some 627,980 Australian families and 869,770 children in approved child care were benefiting from this assistance across some 13,899 services. Since the September quarter of 2000 there has been a 40 per cent increase in the number of families and a 37 per cent increase in the number of children using approved child care. This is a huge increase over many years and justifies the ongoing investment, which includes $126 million through the 2008-09 budget over four years to train and retain high-quality early education and childcare professionals; $32.5 million over five years to roll out the Home Interaction Program for Parents and Youngsters to 50 disadvantaged com­munities; $59.1 million to support budget based funded services to provide care to some of Australia's most vulnerable children; $273.7 million over four years to support the introduction of the new national quality framework; and $14.9 billion to help some 800,000 Australian families annually with the cost of child care through the childcare benefit and the childcare rebate.

The Family Assistance and Other Legislation Amendment (Child Care and Other Measures) Bill 2011 also makes a number of administrative amendments, which I have outlined earlier in my summing-up speech on the second reading debate.

Bill agreed to.

Bill reported without amendments; report adopted.