THE HON KATE ELLIS MP

SHADOW MINISTER FOR EDUCATION

SHADOW MINISTER FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD
MEMBER FOR ADELAIDE
TRAPS REMAIN IN GOVERNMENTS CHILD CARE CHANGES
One in four families stand to be worse off under the Government's child care changes and the new
system will still short-change grandparents, despite the Government's best spin efforts today.
Today, the Liberals have opted for sound bites over substance, dodging the most important
question: who will be worse off?
The Government doesnt deserve any congratulations for reversing its decision to cut support for
grandparents guardians. All they have done today is continue existing arrangements.
Those grandparents who rely on the Registered Child Care Benefit will still have their assistance
cut.
The Liberals approach to child care changes has been farcical after 21 months of waiting, three
different ministers, and rising out of pocket fees on their watch, parents still have no idea about
how these changes will impact them.
The Government must release its actual modelling on the package.
The fact the Government refuses to trust Australian families with this information so they can see
for themselves is an insult to parents across the country.
Independent modelling by NATSEM the only publically available analysis of the Governments
child care changes shows one in four families will be worse off by over $1,880 per year on
average.
It takes a special skill to spend $3.5 billion to make over 250,000 families worse off and push tens
of thousands of children out of early education all together.
Many parents will also risk being locked out of the workforce because they will lose access to any
child care whatsoever and will not be able to put themselves forward for jobs.
This government promised to make child care simpler but it will be more bureaucratic with
confusing rules that will make it harder for parents to go back to work.
They promised to make child care more affordable but the Governments own figures show fees
will increase by 22.5 per cent between the announcement of the changes and when they start in
two years. Parents need relief now.

They promised to make child care more accessible but they have no plans to deal with waiting
lists.
The Government cant hide behind sound bites for much longer. With their legislation due to be
introduced this week, Australian families might actually get some answers.
This detail is long overdue Labor will be fighting to ensure the interests of Australian families are
protected.

SUNDAY, 29 NOVEMBER 2015

MEDIA CONTACT: JOANNE CLEARY 0428 816 751