Finding quality childcare

Getting your child into quality LDC can take several years.

Sacha from SA suggests that “as soon as your pregnancy is confirmed, get on as many waiting lists as you can. I went on four, and none of the LDC centres had a spot available when I wanted to return to work. My child was 11 months old, and I’d been on the waiting lists for 18 months at that point.”

Finding LDC is much more of a problem for parents living in cities than for those in country areas.

• About 70% of city parents responding to our survey did not find care easily
• Only 44% of those living in a regional or rural area had trouble finding child care

Winning the waiting game

Parents responding to our survey give a clear sense of how hard finding good care – or indeed any care – can be. Here they offer tips on how to handle the wait. 

•  “You have to budget for a non refundable amount of about $50 for each list you get on. Then you have to harass, beg, cajole, plead, stalk and bribe your way to securing a place. It’s the last disorderly frontier of an otherwise civilised society.” – Ray

•  “I placed my daughter on five waiting lists at birth. When it got closer to when I was to return to work I’d heard nothing, so I rang around all the childcare centres in the area. In the end the place I got had nothing to do with a waiting list, it was just pot luck.”
  – Lizzie

•   “I spent months waiting for a place to come up in one of three local childcare centres. In the end, on the advice of several friends, I summoned up as much negative energy as I could, walked into a centre and burst into tears. Within two days I was called back for an available spot. The fight to get a spot is like warfare. You have to pull out whatever artillery you have (sick parents, redundant partner and above all tears) in order to be considered.” – Sara

•   “In my area, often the only way to get a spot is to try enrolling your child in a brand new centre before it opens. I actually took to scanning the development applications in my area whenever I saw a building going up that looked like it could be a new centre just to secure a spot.” Kate

The average childcare cost for our survey respondents was $78.50 per day, with wide variations depending on the type of child care used and where they lived. The average daily cost:

• For city parents - about $84,
• For parents in a regional or country area - about $62

As well as LDC and care given by relatives or friends, there are two other main childcare options:

• Family daycare About 110,000 children in Australia are in FDC, where carers look after children in their own homes and usually operate within schemes managed by community or government organisations. FDC is the cheapest option we found, with an average daily cost of $57 compared with $80 on average for LDC. FDC also scored much better on quality in our survey, with 74% of parents very satisfied.
• Nannies Respondents using nanny services also gave high ratings for quality, but the costs can be prohibitive for many parents, and prices can vary widely depending on hours of care and whether you share the nanny with another family. In our survey,
  the price paid ranged from $88 to $250 per day. While the Child Care Rebate (see
  below) helps with the costs of LDC and FDC, it’s not available for care by a nanny.

Julie from Victoria takes issue with this exception: “Nanny costs should be tax deductible, if not rebatable. Use of a nanny, although arguably a higher socioeconomic means of child care, frees up a spot for those who require other forms of child care.”

Government benefits

Child Care Benefit

• The government’s Child Care Benefit is means-tested, with the maximum amount only available if you receive an income support payment such as a Centrelink pension or have a family income of less than $39,785. 
• Cut-offs for a partial benefit depend on the number of children you have ($143,095 is the cut-off if you have two, for example).
• The benefit is available for up to 50 hours per week if you’re working, training or studying. 
• For 2011-12 it was $3.78 per hour (up to$189 per week) for approved child care such as LDC;
• Registered child care, such as care by a nanny, was subsidised by only 63cents per hour (up to $31.60 per week).

Child Care Rebate

• The Child Care Rebate is only available for approved child care. It’s not means-tested and refunds 50% of your childcare costs up to a maximum benefit of $7500, per child, per year.
• The average annual rebate families received was about $2100 per child in 2010-11.

In a confusing bureaucratic twist, you need to apply for the Child Care Benefit to receive the Child Care Rebate, even if your income is above the cut-offs. No wonder about 100,000 families are missing out. You also need to be working, studying or have an exemption from both.

For more information, go to www.familyassist.gov.au or call the Family Assistance Office on 13 61 50.