Budget fails to provide hip pocket relief for rising early education and care costs

MEDIA STATEMENT

Australia's leading parent advocacy organisation, The Parenthood, said today’s Federal Budget was a missed opportunity to provide substantive support to millions of Australian families with young children.

CEO of The Parenthood, Georgie Dent, said families with young children are under significant pressure and the Federal Budget failed to provide relief for families managing rising out-of-pocket costs for early childhood education and care.

“The vast majority of households now rely on two incomes just to stay afloat — and increasingly we are hearing from parents that simply trying to raise and provide for their family feels impossible,” Ms Dent said.

“For the families of 1.4 million children, early childhood education and care is the second largest expense after housing. 

“We know this government is committed to the goal of universal access to early childhood education and care, so it is disappointing to see there is no relief in this budget for families managing exorbitant out-of-pocket costs for an essential service.”

Ms Dent said that the Budget was silent on the future of the Worker Retention Payment, meaning there are now 260,000 educators who don’t know whether their wages will go backwards in November, or whether parents will be forced to cover the shortfall. 

“A strong and supported workforce is critical to ensure quality and safety in early childhood education and care settings.”

But The Parenthood has welcomed reforms to Child Support and measures to ease the cost of living through the fuel excise, tax offsets, Medicare and PBS. 

“These measures will be absolutely welcomed by households, but parents today need policies that reflect the reality of their lives and make it possible to sustainably combine work and care."

The Parenthood also welcomed the federal government’s commitment to begin consultation and pre-work toward a national Early Education and Care Commission, which the organisation has long called for.

“A national Commission is an important step toward delivering stronger oversight and clear accountability for our early education and care system," Ms Dent said.

“For too long, responsibility for early education and care has been fragmented between different levels of government, contributing to a system that has failed too many Australian children, parents and educators.”

Ms Dent said Australian families ultimately needed an early-years system that worked as a sequence, supporting babies and parents in the first year of life through stronger paid parental leave and providing access to high-quality early education and care when families are ready.

“Paid parental leave and early learning are not in competition, they work together. Australian parents should be able to access 12 months of paid parental leave,” Ms Dent said.

“Parents and babies need time, space and financial security in the first year of life, and families also need confidence that high-quality early learning will be there when they need it.”

The Parenthood said reform of the early education and care system remained urgently needed, with some communities facing severe shortages of care while others experienced oversupply driven by market failures.

“Parents are paying more, government is spending more, and we are still not getting this critical social and economic infrastructure that supports families to combine parenting with work,” Ms Dent said.

“Families need early childhood education and care that is affordable, high quality, safe and accessible — no matter where they live."

ENDS

The Parenthood is Australia’s leading parent advocacy organisation, representing families nationwide and working to make early childhood education and care safer, more affordable and accessible for every child.