Young families to get hundreds of dollars in childcare relief

Hundreds of millions will be spent on early childhood education in the Labor government’s budget next week — and families at all income levels will benefit.

Tens of thousands of families will get $500 per year off their daycare bill under a major cost-of-living relief measure in the Minns government’s first budget.

Premier Chris Minns confirmed on Thursday that the program will not be means tested, primarily so the government can increase “female participation in the workforce”.

“That is an absolute priority for this government,” he said.

“If we start means testing programs like this, we will cut out great swathes of the NSW economy.”

That came after The Daily Telegraph revealed next week’s budget papers will unveil more than $100 million of new spending in early learning, including boosting the childcare workforce.

Premier Chris Minns said the daycare fee-relief delivers on an election mandate to rebuild essential services. Picture: NCA NewsWire

The centrepiece of the early childhood education package will be new vouchers for parents of three-year-olds enrolled in long day care.

Those parents will get $500 per child in fee relief each year. The government will commit $64m to provide the vouchers, initially for two years.

Treasurer Daniel Mookhey’s first budget will include more than $100 million in early learning spending. Picture: Jeremy Piper

The spending will come from a $5 billion childcare “future fund” established under the previous government, with Labor’s support.

The fund was designed by former Treasurer Matt Kean to build new childcare centres over 10 years, something which has traditionally been the responsibility of the federal government.

The Minns government will now use some of the money raised for the fund to give fee relief for parents, extend opening hours, and pay to train new staff.

In addition to the $500 vouchers, the budget will include $20m for a trial to extend hours of early childhood education and daycare, and $20m will be spent to help build new not-for-profit centres where they are most needed.

The Minns government is also committing $22m to deliver an election promise to help would-be early childhood workers pay for their training and education.

Deputy Premier Prue Car said the funding will also help train more workers. Picture: NCA NewsWire

The daycare package is likely to be one of the few election sweeteners in next Tuesday’s budget, which is set to unveil a range of spending cuts in a bid to pay down debt while paying for billions of dollars in higher public sector wages.

Mr Minns acknowledged that while $500 wasn’t a huge concessions for families paying costly childcare fees, but said it was what the government could do during a challenging economic period.

“I’m not pretending … that $500 will make a massive difference when there’s a cost-of-living crisis in Australia at the moment but everything helps,” he said.

Max McRae, 18 months, is not yet old enough to enjoy the fee relief. Picture: Justin Lloyd

“And this may be the difference between a family choosing to send a three-year-old to preschool, and the mum or the dad going back to work.”

Earlier, Education and Early Learning Minister Prue Car said the funding will “make preschool more affordable and accessible for all families”.

“We also need to usher in a strong and reliable pipeline of early childhood workers, so our system is supported.”

While the vouchers will be welcomed by many, the $500 may not make much of a dent for some parents paying through the nose for daycare.

“The $500 is great but we pay well over that per week,” Laura McRae, mother of 18-month-old Max said.

Ms McRae’s childcare costs leave her $130 out-of-pocket each day.