Cheaper childcare scheme thwarted by staff shortages

There’s one gigantic snag to Labor’s budget promise to make childcare more affordable – there’s a desperate shortage they can’t avoid, argues Julie Cross.

Opinion: If you’re a parent with small kids, Labor’s promise to make life easier for families may be one of the reasons you voted for Anthony Albanese.

The election, coming in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis where the price of lettuce hit $10, was enough to cause everyone, not just families, to tighten their belts.

But for parents of small children in particular, rising childcare fees – along with rising mortgages and rents – were a double whammy.

That’s why Labor’s first budget has been eagerly anticipated by many.

The modelling suggests about 96 per cent of families with small children in childcare will benefit from the new $4.6bn subsidy policy, due to come into force in July next year.

Labor says not only should it give mums and dads more cash to play with, it will encourage more parents to be able to work more days if they want to – boosting their own incomes and that of the economy.

But there’s one gigantic snag.

There is a desperate shortage of childcare workers.

KindiCare founder Benjamin Balk, pictured with his family, says there are fears childcare fees will rise due to higher staff wages. Picture: Kirsty Jauncey Photography

That means despite Labor’s best intentions, some parents who want to work additional days may not be able to because there are simply not enough staff.

The Parenthood executive director Georgie Dent, who advocates for parents, says there are more than 7000 childcare centre job vacancies in the childcare sector across Australia.

And an additional equivalent 9300 full-time staff are needed on top of that figure by July, to meet the expected demand.

In fact, the workforce is so stretched that parents say childcare centre directors are calling them now to ask if they can reduce the number of days their kids attend.

That’s before Labor’s cheaper childcare scheme comes into effect next July.

Even with money in the budget to provide more places at university or TAFE for early education workers, the new recruits will not trickle through in time.

National Social Affairs Reporter Julie Cross says there is still a childcare worker shortage.

Another slab of cash has gone to paying an extra 500 staff to work through the backlog of overseas visa applicants to speed up immigration to fill a shortfall of staff in early education and other desperate industries, such as healthcare and aged care.

But again, that will take time to flow through and it’s not a magic bullet.

Meanwhile, Benjamin Balk, the founder of KindiCare – an app that helps parents find the right childcare – says there are concerns that further childcare fee rises due to higher wages and rent increases linked to inflation could wipe out any financial benefits to parents.

Unless the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission – which is currently investigating rising childcare fees – can actually prevent this cycle of increased subsidies followed by fee rises, and Labor can sort the staffing crisis, parents will be back to square one.