Anthony Albanese open to capping childcare at $10 a day

Anthony Albanese says universal childcare would be a ‘national asset’ akin to Medicare and superannuation, as he welcomes a new proposal.

Anthony Albanese says delivering universal childcare was not only desirable, but possible.

Anthony Albanese says universal childcare would be a “national asset” akin to Medicare and superannuation, with the Prime Minister welcoming a fresh proposal to cap childcare at $10 a day as an “important contribution” to efforts to reform the sector.

In the wake of a report by the Centre for Policy Development, which urged for all children to attend at least three days of care a week at a cost of no more than $10 per day, Mr Albanese said delivering universal childcare was not only desirable, but possible.

“We certainly do have ambition for universal childcare,” he said on Wednesday.

“I note the report today that is a positive contribution to the policy debate … I have said on repeated occasions that I think that universal childcare provision, as it is in a range of other countries, is something that is a valued national asset. Early education is good for children, it’s good for families, but it’s also good for our economy.”

Mr Albanese said Labor would await the outcome of a Productivity Commission report into affordable childcare, due at the end of the month, before announcing further reforms.

The Productivity Commission’s draft report, handed down late last year, argued for a childcare system that ensured lower-income families had access to three days of fully subsidised care.

And an investigation by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission found that daycare fees had soared faster than inflation and wages since taxpayer subsidies to families increased in 2018.

Childcare fees have soared since 2018. Picture: Steve Pohlner

While Labor invested about $5.4bn into increasing the childcare subsidy for more families in its first budget, it has been urged to implement root and branch reforms in which the activity test would be abolished and childcare centres funded directly, rather than through the subsidy system.

Advocacy group The Parenthood said changes to the system were urgent given the cost-of- living crisis bearing down on thousands of Australian families.

“Too many parents around the country with children under 5 aren’t just struggling with the cost-of-living crisis – it’s the cost-of-working crisis that is prohibitive,” Parenthood chief executive Georgie Dent said.

“Being able to care for and provide for children shouldn’t be this complicated and expensive.”

Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care chief executive Catherine Liddle said that Indigenous children, in particular, were being let down by the current childcare system. “Under the Child Care Subsidy, funding is attached to the child, and this has created an inequitable system, especially for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families,” Ms Liddle said.

“If the service isn’t funded ­directly, and the funding is only coming with the child, there’s very little financial incentive for services to keep doors open in thinly populated areas … We cannot tinker around the edges of such a dysfunctional system and expect that to close the gap in life outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, families and communities.”

The Centre for Policy Development’s report came ahead of a roundtable on Wednesday night with rural parents and educators, attended by Regional Development Minister Kristy McBain and opposition regional development spokesman Darren Chester.