PARENTS PRESS OPPOSITION TO REVEAL CHILDCARE POLICY AFTER FLEXIBLE WORK BACKLASH

With just two weeks until pre-poll voting opens, advocacy group The Parenthood has written to the Federal Opposition to clarify what, if anything, they are offering for working parents and young children. 

The Opposition’s now-abandoned policy of requiring all federal public servants in Canberra to work from the office five days a week was particularly worrying for parents, many of whom rely on flexible work arrangements to balance paid work and caring. 

The Parenthood CEO Georgie Dent said the scare had damaged trust, making it more urgent and important for parents to understand where the Opposition stands on other important issues like early learning and childcare. 

“No one should be playing political games with young children and working families,” Ms Dent said. 

“We have been asking the Opposition for their early childhood education policy since January. 

“The Government has committed to making early childhood education and care universally accessible to all. The Greens have committed to making it free.

“Pre-poll voting opens in two weeks and parents deserve a chance to get their heads around what – if anything – the Opposition is putting on the table.”

A 2023 poll conducted by Essential Research on behalf of The Parenthood found 85 per cent of parents say families need two incomes to deal with the cost of living. 

But this creates a financial vice, Ms Dent said, when quality early learning is inaccessible or the cost is exorbitant. 

“If the Opposition wants to earn the trust of women and parents, they need to be transparent about their plans for early childhood education and care,” Ms Dent said.

“We know the Nationals, in particular, understand the need and urgency of fixing ‘childcare desserts’ in regional and rural areas. At a minimum the Opposition should match the Government’s $1 billion commitment of 160 new and expanded early learning centres in areas of scarcity.

“The cost of early childhood education and care is a massive contributor to the cost of living for Australian families, rising four times faster than the rate of inflation.

“Childcare fee relief would significantly ease the financial strain Australian families are feeling, and parents deserve to know how the Opposition plans to tackle this, or not.”

Read the open letter here.