BY HEJIRA CONVERY, KINDICARE

MAY 15, 2023

What a week it’s been! 

First, we had the crowning of King Charles and Queen Camilla, and now we’ve seen the Albanese government hand down its 2023-2024 Budget.  

We understand that this might not seem too exciting (because Treasurer Jim Chalmers didn’t deliver the Budget in gold and ermine), but it does matter where our taxes go, and if your family is looking for, or using, childcare, then we have some news you’ll like to know! 

The 2023-2024 Budget contains plenty of goodies for childcare families and workers, and here’s a quick wrap-up of what you can look forward to.   

1. Childcare is definitely going to be more affordable for many.  

The government’s Cheaper Child Care plan is all systems go, and from July this year, around 1.2 million Australian families will be paying less for childcare (hoo-ray!). 

If your family earns under $530,000 per annum, you don’t need to do anything to see your Child Care Subsidy (CCS) rise from 10 July 2023, and your new rate will depend on your family’s annual income: 

• If your family earns up to $80,000 per annum, your maximum CCS rate will increase from 85% to 90%, and  
• If you’re earning more than $80,000, your CCS will go down by 1% for each $5,000 of income your family earns, with the effect that your subsidy will either go up, or at the very least, stay the same. 

 

If you have a couple of young children in care and are eligible for a higher CCS for one or more of them, you can still get your generous CCS percentage from 10 July 2023 – provided your fam’s combined income estimate is less than $362,408.  

All in all, Cheaper Child Care is designed to be a win-win for lots of us, with the government hoping it will result in more children benefitting from early education, and more parents (and particularly, mums) participating in the workforce.  

2. The Paid Parental Leave scheme is getting a boost.  

The October Budget committed $531.6 million to make our Paid Parental Leave (PPL) scheme more flexible and generous (two adjectives that sound good to us!), and changes are coming soon. 

From 1 July 2023, Parental Leave Pay and Dad and Partner Pay are becoming one payment, and families will be able to take 100 days (20 weeks) of paid parental leave. 

This doesn’t represent a big change in days (because families can currently get up to 90 days of Parental Leave Pay and 10 days of Dad and Partner Pay), however, there is more flexibility under the new scheme, and Parental Leave Pay is on the up! 

The government is committed to increasing PPL to 26 weeks by 2026. 

And for the moment, it’s good to know that a new family income test of $350,000 per year means almost 3,000 extra parents will become eligible for PPL each year, and about 180,000 families will be better off under the PPL changes.  

3. There is also assistance for early childhood workers.  

The Albanese government recognises that we have a serious shortage of people wanting to start working, or keep working, in the early childhood education and care sector. 

So, they’ve invested $72.4 million to build and support the skills of childcare workers.  

Up to 75,000 early childhood educators will be able to access paid professional development, and the government will give educators and teachers financial help to finish the required practical part of their Bachelor or Master’s Degree in Early Childhood Education.     

4. The government is also helping out single parents who are balancing work and child-raising responsibilities.    

The 2023-2024 Budget raises the age cut-off for the Parenting Payment (Single), and this means eligible single parents can get the payment until their youngest child turns 14, not the tender age of eight. 

Assuming the legislation goes through, this change will kick off from 20 September 2023, and it’s estimated that around 57,000 single principal carers will benefit. 

The Budget also contains an increase to the rate of the Parenting Payment (Partnered), from 20 September 2023, also subject to legislation passing.  

Want to know more? 

If you’d like to explore the 2023-2024 Budget in a bit more detail, then this Overview takes you through the main announcements, and if all this budgetary brouhaha is much less exciting to you than royal news, then just know this:  

July is going to be a good month for many of us!