The Hon. Dr. Anne Aly MP

Minister for Early Childhood Education

Minister for Youth

Libby Coker MP

Member for Corangamite

MEDIA RELEASE

Boosts to the Cheaper Child Care Subsidy have arrived.

To celebrate, the Minister for Early Childhood Education, Dr Anne Aly, and the Member for Corangamite, Libby Coker, joined with members of the Golden Plains Shire Council, educators, parents, and children at Kardinia Early Learning in Bannockburn on Tuesday.

The Manager for Children’s Services at the Golden Plains Shire Council, Heidi Preston, said that Kardinia Early Learning and other childcare centres play an important role throughout the region, providing essential care, education and safe environments for young people.

“Accessible and affordable childcare is a lifeline for Peri Urban communities, bridging gaps in support and providing families the opportunity to participate in the workforce, while nurturing and developing young minds,” said Ms Preston.

Dr Aly and Ms Coker added that the increase to the subsidy will deliver more affordable early childhood education for around 1.2 million Australian families, including 6,000 families in the electorate of Corangamite.

For a family earning $120,000 with one child in care – their child care costs will be about $1,700 a year less than they otherwise would be.

For families on a combined income of $80,000 or less, the Child Care Subsidy rate will lift to 90 per cent.

Families with two or more children aged under 5 in care will continue to receive the higher subsidy rate of 95 per cent for their second child and any further children.

The number of Indigenous children in early education will also be boosted by increasing the baseline number of hours of subsidised early childhood education and care families are eligible for each fortnight.

Families can now calculate their Child Care Subsidy by visiting www.childcaresubsidy.gov.au

Quotes attributable to Minister for Early Childhood, Dr Anne Aly:

“More affordable early childhood education and care is a win-win for Australian families, delivering cost-of-living relief while also making it easier to increase household income.

“More affordable early childhood education and care means more Australian children can access the transformational health and education benefits of foundation years learning no matter their postcode or background.”

Quotes attributable to Member for Corangamite, Libby Coker:

"Our government’s boost to the Cheaper Child Care Subsidy will be particularly important to communities like Bannockburn which have a rapidly expanding population as more young families move to the region.

“For these young families and those across our region, this is a real cost of living saving to their household budgets because – apart from their mortgage or rent – child care is often the biggest bill they have to pay.

“More broadly, this boost will see up to 6,000 families across our region have access to cheaper childcare, which means more local children across get access to vital early education, and parents can have the choice to take on more paid work or study if they want to.

“I encourage parents who want more information to contact me at my office or reach out to local childcare providers – this is an amazing opportunity for our community.”