Hollie Hughes (NSW, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Women's Economic Security, Senator Hume. Can the minister advise the Senate how the Liberals and Nationals government childcare policies are supporting Australian families and businesses, and how would they help secure Australia's COVID recovery?

Jane Hume (Victoria, Liberal Party, Minister for Superannuation, Financial Services and the Digital Economy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Hughes for her question. We know how important child care is for thousands of Australian families, and that's why the Morrison government has delivered a targeted, measured childcare package that is keeping out-of-pocket expenses low and allowing more parents to work should they chose. Average out-of-pocket costs are now just around $4 per hour, almost 18 per cent lower before our childcare package was introduced more than three years ago. The mechanism we introduced to restrain fee growth, the cap on hourly fees, is also working with 86.2 per cent of services charging below that cap. But we know that these costs still add up when you have two, three or more children in care at the same time, so we're bringing forward an additional support for around 250,000 families with two or more children in care. These families will receive an additional 30 per cent subsidy covering up to 95 per cent of their costs. So a family earning $110,000 a year with two kids in care four days a week would be better off by around $100 a week.

We said we'd introduce this earlier if we could, and now we are delivering. The work we've done to ensure that the IT framework is ready and in place and centres will be prepared is under way. We're bringing these measures forward to March next year, saving the average family with two children in care around $700 this financial year and $2,200 a year going forward. The Morrison government is committed to increasing economic opportunities for Australian women and families, and this additional childcare support will help remove disincentives for primary carers, particularly mothers, to participate in the workforce. This is especially important as our economy begins to open up, providing women with more choices and more chances to enter or re-enter the workforce.

Slade Brockman (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Hughes, a supplementary question?

Hollie Hughes (NSW, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Can the minister outline the economic impact of this measure?

Jane Hume (Victoria, Liberal Party, Minister for Superannuation, Financial Services and the Digital Economy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thanks to these measures the equivalent of around 40,000 parents, largely working mothers, will be able to work an additional day per week, boosting the economy by around $1.5 billion per year, right at a time next year when our economy, in recovery, will be in full swing.

It's not just families with two children that will benefit from our reforms. We're also scrapping the $10,655 annual childcare subsidy cap, effective from this year. And this will be applied retrospectively for the whole of the 2021-22 financial year, meaning anyone who reaches the cap before this date will have additional out-of-pocket costs for the 2021-22 financial year reimbursed. It's estimated that around 82,000 families in just Senator Hughes's home state of New South Wales will benefit from this measure. Bringing forward the subsidy and removing that cap will have an incredibly positive impact on families right across the nation.

Slade Brockman (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Hughes, a second supplementary question?

Hollie Hughes (NSW, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Can the minister please explain to the Senate who this childcare support is targeted at and how this differs from previous policy arrangements?

Jane Hume (Victoria, Liberal Party, Minister for Superannuation, Financial Services and the Digital Economy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Morrison government's childcare support targets those who need it the most—those on lower incomes and those with multiple children. In fact, around 60 per cent of all subsidies paid go to families on less than $150,000. More than 70 per cent of families pay less than $5 an hour. Almost a quarter pay less than $2 an hour. There are around 280,000 more children in child care now than there were when we came to office, with women's workforce participation reaching record highs of 61.9 per cent in March this year, and that remains near record highs. Let's compare this to Labor's reckless childcare scheme, which would benefit millionaires the most. In fact, under Labor's policy around $1.1 billion per year would go to those earning over $250,000. A couple earning half a million dollars a year would get a $50,000 taxpayer subsidised payment—outrageous largesse. (Time expired)