Cheaper child care and free kindy for Queensland families

More than 284,000 families in Queensland will benefit from Cheaper Child Care from July, and all Queensland families will be able to access free kindy from 2024.

Legislation to change the Child Care Subsidy takes effect from Saturday and will deliver Cheaper Child Care for around 1.2 million families across the country from July.

This is good for children, good for families, and good for Australia.

For a family earning $120,000 with one child in care – their child care costs will be about $1,700 a year less than they otherwise would be.

For families on a combined income of $80,000 or less, the Child Care Subsidy rate will lift to 90 per cent.

For families with two or more children aged five or under in care, the higher subsidy of up to 95 per cent for the second and subsequent children in care will remain.

The number of Indigenous children in early education will also be boosted by increasing the baseline number of hours of subsidised early childhood education and care families are eligible for each fortnight.

Families can now calculate their Child Care Subsidy by visiting www.childcaresubsidy.gov.au.

Families with kindy aged children will benefit from even further savings, following the historic announcement by the Palaszczuk Government that kindy will be free for each and every Queensland child from January 2024.

Comment attributable to Commonwealth Minister for Education Jason Clare:

“More than 284,000 families in Queensland will get Cheaper Child Care to help with cost-of-living pressures and make it easier for parents to return to paid work, or work more paid hours, if they want to.

“Apart from the mortgage or rent, child care is the biggest bill that a lot of Australian families have to pay.

“This is a practical measure that is good for children, good for parents, and good for the country.”

Comment attributable to Queensland Minister for Education Grace Grace:

“Free kindy will put money back into the pockets of families at a time we know people are doing it tough, and help give every child a great start in life.

“The $645 million investment also includes vital and ongoing funding to attract and retain a quality early childhood education workforce, particularly in regional and remote areas.

“Combined with the Federal Government’s Cheaper Childcare, those with young children are going to be thousands of dollars better off. It’s a great example of Labor Governments delivering for Queensland families.”

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