Childcare fees soared by 5 per cent in Launceston and 4 per cent in North-East Tasmania in 2019-20, according to data from the federal Education Department.
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It's prompted Labor to accuse the Commonwealth government of failing Tasmanian families. But the Coalition says fees charged aren't the concern - rather, out of pocket expenses are.
The Education Department figures project that childcare fees in Australia will increase by 4.1 per cent every year for the next four years.
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"This increase in fees will substantially outstrip inflation - which the Child Care Subsidy (CCS) is pegged to - meaning out of pocket costs for families will continue to skyrocket in the years to come," Opposition early childhood education and development spokeswoman Amanda Rishworth said.
Across Tasmania, childcare fees went up by 3.86 per cent in 2019-20, which was well above the Consumer Prince Index figure of 2.2 per cent for the same period.
And people in the North and North-West of the state were particularly hard hit. In Devonport, an eye-watering 8.9 per cent price hike was recorded.
"Families in Northern Tasmania are already struggling with soaring fees, as are families across the country," Ms Rishworth said. "Scott Morrison's childcare system has failed Tasmanian families."
"It has failed to keep a lid on out of pocket costs, and it has failed to support working parents, particularly women, to work full-time or increase their hours."
Families in Northern Tasmania are already struggling with soaring fees, as are families across the country.
- Amanda Rishworth, Labor early childhood education and development spokeswoman
Tasmanian Labor senator Helen Polley said families across the North of Tasmania often told her they were being "left behind by the Morrison government, which does not have a plan for childcare".
Education Minister Alan Tudge, however, said parents' key concern wasn't the childcare fees they were charged "but their out of pocket expenses".
"Our record $10.3 billion investment in child care, including an estimated $9 billion to subsidise fees, means out of pocket costs for parents were 3.2 per cent lower in the March 2020 quarter than their peak in the June quarter 2018," Mr Tudge said.
The CCS is currently means-tested to ensure families earning the least receive the highest level of subsidy. About 90 per cent of families utilising approved childcare are entitled to a subsidy between 50 and 85 per cent of their fees.
Labor has pledged to scrap the $10,560 CCS cap, lift the maximum subsidy rate to 90 per cent and increase subsidy rates and taper them for every family earning less than $530,000.
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