Childcare centres forced to make bills more transparent
CHILDCARE providers will be forced to reveal how many hours of care families are paying for compared to the amount of hours they pay for.
NSW
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CHILDCARE centres will be forced to list the number of hours billed to parents alongside the number of hours each child spends in care in a bid to boost transparency and drive down prices.
Most childcare centres charge a daily rate, regardless of how many hours each child actually spends in care and despite government subsidies being paid to families by the hour.
Education Minister Simon Birmingham said the reforms would make it “crystal clear to taxpayers if they are getting bang for their buck”.
Under the change, parents will be able to see the number of hours they are paying for compared to the amount they use.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is expected to campaign on the changes in the seat of Bennelong today alongside Liberal candidate John Alexander, who has been forced to recontest his seat in a by-election following the citizenship fiasco.
The new rules will be introduced as part of sweeping reforms to the sector in July next year, which will also abolish rules which force childcare centres to open for a mandated number of hours each week or day.
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It is hoped the two changes will encourage providers to offer more flexible and cost-effective options and deliver savings to families.
“There are situations where families routinely need and use only four, six or eight hours of care per day but are charged for 10 or 12 hours,’ Mr Birmingham said.
“The Turnbull government expects providers to offer flexible and cost-effective child care services to hardworking Australian families and deliver value to the taxpayer.”
Today’s announcement comes as the Australian Childcare Alliance (ACA) announced a recent survey of providers found that 83 per cent of early childcare centres in NSW are planning to increase their fees in 2018.
The ACA said the government’s package will do little to drive down prices as centres are forced to pay fixed costs such as utilities and wages regardless of how many children it cares for.
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ACA NSW President Lyn Connolly attributed the price hike to the extra costs of complying with red tape imposed by the government’s National Quality Framework. She also called on the government to reintroduce a planning system developed by John Howard to ensure childcare centres were built in the area of greatest need.
“The government’s changes will deliver savings for some families but some will continue to pay more,” Ms Connolly said.
She said opening more centres wasn’t putting downward pressure of fees because of the increasing price of fixed annual costs.
“Smaller centres are finding it difficult to keep the doors open because it’s getting harder and harder to pay the bills.”