Australian parents paying some of the highest childcare fees in the world _ ABC News
5 Video Views·Oct 3, 2023
Australian parents facing crippling cost-of-living pressures are paying almost twice the OECD average for childcare, an inquiry has found, with the system also failing to deliver for low-income families and those in the bush.
An Australian family on average wages with two kids spends 16 per cent of their total budget on childcare while the OECD average is 9 per cent, according to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).
That's despite an increasing federal government spend on parental subsidies estimated to reach $12.9 billion this financial year.
As childcare costs continue to bite, pressures on families are piling up.
I had to increase my time at work by double so that we could afford the extra money in care
otherwise the amount of money that I was earning would only just cover the extra hours that I would have her in childcare.
Australia's competition watchdog the ACCC says parents are paying almost twice the OECD average.
Families on average wages with two kids spend 16% of their budget on childcare compared to 9% in other OECD countries.
This is the biggest bill apart from the mortgage or the rent that a lot of Australian families pay.
The Albanese government increased subsidies for childcare in July with low income families getting up to 90% of costs paid for.
But the ACCC suggests the government should limit what centres can charge, name and shame providers making big profits
and intervene to offer more places in remote areas and for First Nations communities.
A lot of those ideas in this report make sense mate.
The idea of naming and shaming providers that are just charging over the top fees.
It's overpriced.
It's killing us.
My girls are only in two days a week because we have family help.
A lot of other people don't and it is still nearly half my wage.
There's just no justification for putting your kids in care and being away from them to earn more money
when all of that extra money that you're getting is going straight back to the childcare service.
The ACCC is now seeking feedback from the public through its website before it delivers its final report in December.
The government says it will act on the recommendations next year.
But as families grapple with a deep cost of living crisis,
many advocates say the government should consider changes as soon as possible.
Chantelle Elkhoury, ABC News, Canberra.