Hi everyone,
Malcolm Turnbull announced in a speech last week that he intends to introduce changes to Childcare funding as soon as parliament resumes. I understand that this will happen next week. If it does pass through parliament early this year, as hoped by the government, it will start at the intended date of 1 July 2018. I have written in the past in detail what those changes will be and you can read my detailed explanation here.
We are well over due a change. I have calculated that my childcare fees have increased by 57% from 2011 when my eldest started long day care to now with my youngest. However there have been no changes AT ALL to the Childcare Rebate cap of $7,500. In 2011 I did not reach the cap with three days a week of childcare, now in 2017 I will reach it at around 10 months into the financial year. This is for the same level of care and probably with our carers receiving similar salaries. Not impressed.
So what is stopping parliament from passing the legislation that will approve these changes? These changes were first introduced in 2013 so what is taking so long? It is that in order to put an extra $3 billion into Childcare funding, the government wants to raid another Family Benefit. Simply, to increase funding for Childcare payments, the government is planning to reduce funding for Family Tax Benefit and this is creating a lot of push back from those that hold the balance of power in our parliament.
And so we remain at a standstill. Again.
It will be interesting to see what the government will be willing to negotiate in order to see these changes implemented. As usual, I’ll keep you updated.
If you are still unsure of how you can take advantage of the current Childcare funding arrangements, my guidebook Your Family Budget tells you how to set up your arrangements to ensure you don’t have to repay Centrelink at the end of the year. Also it includes details of the best way to receive your payments for your situation plus simple calculations that will help you determine how long it will take for you to reach your Childcare Rebate cap of $7,500. You can purchase and quickly download Your Family Budget here.
Lisa.
