Cheapest and most expensive child care in the state revealed

Queensland’s cheapest and most expensive suburbs for child care have been revealed — and you could be paying nearly $6000 too much each year. SEE THE FEES

QUEENSLAND parents are paying as much as $5800 a year more for the same amount of child care in a shocking disparity.

Even within Brisbane itself, the difference in what mums and dads fork out varies by as much as $3443 a year, while the split between neighbouring suburbs can be as much as $2350.

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The eye-opening inequality is revealed in analysis the first data for 2019, which lays bare where the cheapest and most expensive places to live in Queensland are for child care.

Gabrielle Payne, 5, Dimitri Badke, 5, Stirling Madsen, 4, enjoy child care. The price differences for childcare between suburbs can vary as much as $5800.

The difference within smaller cities including Ipswich, Logan and Gold Coast is much smaller, with the cost of child care ranging only up to $1500 a year.

Areas of Morningside, Bulimba, Balmoral and East Brisbane pay the highest amount in Queensland at an average of $338 a week or $16,244 a year before subsidies are applied, analysis of Department of Education data shows.

But neighbouring Wynnum offers an average child care fee of $13,893 a year, $2351 less.

Mt Gravatt and Nathan are next door to each other, but there is a $2124 difference between the two, with Nathan one of the most expensive suburbs at $16,244 a year.

Similarly Rocklea is almost $2000 a year cheaper on average than child care centres in Salisbury’s $15,911 annual cost.

Meanwhile, the cheapest child care in the state is in Charters Towers, Ayr and Ingham, where people will pay as little as $10,465 a year.

It is based on parents with children in care for 31.6 hours a week for 48 weeks.

Amaze Early Education Centre Ipswich general manager Lucy Cook said there was less disparity in prices on the Gold Coast and Ipswich because there was more competition.

“You can’t jack the prices up too much because in the higher growth areas like the Gold Coast because the other centres you have to be on parity with them,” she said.

The data also shows child care costs grew well-above inflation across most of the state, with prices in areas like Sandgate and Bundaberg growing 12 times faster than CPI.

Opposition early childhood spokeswoman Amanda Rishworth says she is concerned at the level of fee variation in child care centres across the state.

Opposition early childhood spokeswoman Amanda Rishworth said the level of variation in pricing was concerning.

“We have expressed concern that some centres may be taking advantage of families and price gauging,” she said.

“If there is evidence of centres price gauging or charging excessively high fees, the Government must act swiftly to address the problem and protect families.”

Education Minister Dan Tehan this week said average child care fees had remained unchanged for six months and that subsidies introduced in July last year were keeping out of pocket costs down.

“The new system places a cap on the subsidy the Government will pay per hour to help put downward pressure on fees,” he said.