Page 214 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 10 February 2010
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I am happy to provide the information again to inform and educate all the members of this Assembly about how childcare services are provided in the ACT and the role of government. For the second time today, and I think even more so in this week, I state that the ACT government is committed to working in partnership with private and community organisations that provide childcare in the ACT.
Working in partnership with the community does not mean that we control what they do. These are businesses where the government regulates the conditions upon which they are granted a licence and monitors their compliance with the notified childcare standards. The ACT government does not interfere in business decisions of childcare providers and there are no legislative provisions for the government to do so. As such, the ACT government has not been involved, and is not involved, in controlling or regulating childcare costs, nor should it be.
The determination of childcare fees is a matter for individual childcare service operators based on their business model. This applies to both private and community-based childcare services. The fees set by the childcare providers are market driven and based on identified demand. The ACT, as Mrs Dunne has indicated, has a mix of private and community-based childcare services, with around 80 per cent run by community providers.
There are many factors that contribute to the cost of childcare—for example, training, food, rent, equipment and insurance, staff wages, conditions, maintenance and buildings, and other facility expenses. Some of these expenses are reduced for organisations that run several licensed childcare services. Expenses are generally higher for a single service operator due to the smaller economy of scale. Recent reports indicate that in the ACT, the average cost of childcare is $325 per week for 50 hours of care. This is similar to or lower than fees in equivalent urban centres across Australia.
Let me make our geography clear to those opposite. The ACT is an urban jurisdiction, a city-state. Across Australia, childcare costs are generally higher in urban centres than those in rural areas. This in turn brings down the other jurisdictions’ average wage cost. The commonwealth government’s mychild website indicates that the weekly rates for centre-based childcare in inner city areas range from $375 to $520, and Wollongong and Newcastle from $300 to $375.
This compares with the cost in the ACT of $325. This provides a different picture. In addition, the 2010 ROGS report stated that we perform well against all quality measures that improve the health, safety, early learning and wellbeing of Australia’s children. Let me repeat that: we perform well on measures that improve the health, safety, early learning and wellbeing of our children.
There are other market factors that influence cost. The ACT has the highest per capita income across jurisdictions, and this drives demand and competition. The capacity—
Mrs Dunne: This is what we spend most of our disposable income on.
MS BURCH: Mrs Dunne, please do not interrupt, dear.
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