BY HEJIRA CONVERY, KINDICARE

SEPTEMBER 20, 2023

The Labor government has handed down its 2023/2024 NSW Budget, and although $64 million is being splashed around to help parents pay for their preschooler’s education, here at KindiCare, we believe this money may have been better spent.  

If you’re one of the few families with a three-year-old attending an approved preschool who’s set to receive $500 towards your preschooler’s early learning, you might not agree. 

Hear us out, though, because although this cash is very welcome (and it’s not the only money the NSW government is investing in early learning), the needs of families and the sector are greater than the dollars promised.  

Below we explain our thinking, but first, here’s a quick wrap-up of what the NSW government is investing in early learning and its people.  

All up, the government is spending more than $100 million on a variety of early learning initiatives, including:  

• $64 million over two years to give $500 in fee relief to parents with three-year-olds in long day care approved preschool programs and approved preschools. This per child, per year payment promises to ease families’ cost-of-living pressures and boost preschool education, benefiting up to 64,000 NSW children.
  
  This new payment complements the fee relief already in place, which stands at $4,220 per year for three- to five-year-olds in community and mobile preschools, and $2,110 per year for ages four and up in eligible long day care settings. 

• $20 million is being spent to support new not-for-profit services in high-growth and regional communities.

• Another $20 million is going towards the Flexible Initiatives trial, which will look at programs to increase access to early childhood education and care, extend hours of operation, and help parents re-join the workforce.  

• $22 million over five years will also be spent to recruit and retain early childhood workers, paying for positive things like professional development and scholarships.  

But, wait, there’s more!  

The NSW government is also investing $769.3 million to build 100 new public preschools and they aim to add a preschool to the grounds of every new public primary school they build. 

NSW Premier, Chris Minns says the government is, “Committed to universal access to preschool,” and the first lot of new preschools are being built next to schools – not just in Sydney, but on the North and South Coast too.  

There's also $60 million to fund new and upgraded non-government preschools.

All of this investment in early childhood education and care is great to see, however, here at KindiCare, we would have liked to see more money spent in wiser ways.  

While we recognise that economic times are tough, and the government has had to tighten its purse strings (like the rest of us!), we’re not totally sold on the benefits of giving $64 million to a select group of preschooler parents, when there are so many childcare families, providers and communities needing this kind of cash.  

KindiCare’s Founder and CEO, Benjamin Balk, says, “Childcare fee relief is always welcome, and every family who receives the $500 will be grateful. However, I question whether this relatively small payment will actually achieve its goals of easing cost-of-living pressures and boosting preschool education, and more importantly, helping parents back into the workforce.” 

He explains that this $500 payment won’t solve the systemic issue of childcare affordability, support women to re-enter the workforce, or ease the cost of ballooning mortgages and rents, increased grocery bills and more expensive everything!   

Mr Balk says, “The $500 payment is narrow in scope. It will only go to parents with three-year-olds in long day care preschool programs, or approved preschools, leaving lots of other childcare families with their same fee pressures. And the $500 won’t go far for those who actually receive it, because childcare is such a huge cost in the family budget.” 

There’s no doubt that fees continue to rise everywhere and chronic workforce challenges are a big cause of this.  

Providers are having to pay more to recruit and retain great childcare workers, which is driving up fees payable by families, and despite this being a huge and persistent problem, Mr Balk calculates that only a fraction of the $126 million early learning package is going towards solving the childcare workforce issue.  

Spending $22 million (and keep in mind this is over five years) to recruit and retain childcare workers is nowhere near enough, and Mr Balk says, “At KindiCare, we would have liked to see much more being spent on bringing more educators into the sector and supporting access to childcare in regional and disadvantaged communities.”  

He explains that it’s often not commercially viable for early learning providers to set up centres in regional areas, and the $20 million support for new not-for-profit services in both regional and high-growth areas won’t go too far.  

It is great to see 100 new preschools being planned, not just in metropolitan Sydney, but in state-wide locations with educational need. However, this was already a promise from the previous state government in the 2022/2023 Budget – with the only difference being that the first 10 locations have been announced in the 2023/2024 Budget. 

If your family is set to receive the $500 per child voucher, as a once per year payment, we hope it brings some financial joy (and relief) to your budget.  

And as a savings hack for those families receiving the Child Care Subsidy, we’d recommend getting your attendance under the 100 hour per fortnight Subsidy support cap.  

This can be done by working with your employer to get a condensed four day work week, or by finding an early learning provider who does 10 hour per day sessions, instead of 12. 

This Child Care Subsidy hack can save a family as much as $1,000 per child per month, so it’s definitely worth investigating your options!