Read the Full Submission
Explore the evidence and policy recommendations presented to Parliament:
📄 Submission 103: Inquiry into the state of Australia’s early childhood education and care system in rural, regional and remote communities.
Why Australia’s Childcare System Is Leaving Regional Families Behind
Australia spends billions subsidising childcare, yet families across regional and rural Australia continue to face limited options, rising costs and inadequate support.
Government childcare expenditure has grown from approximately $1.5 billion in 2000 to $16.2 billion in 2026, while funding arrangements continue to favour formal childcare over parental care and flexible, family-based alternatives. For families in rural, regional and remote communities, where childcare centres are often inaccessible or unavailable, this approach places additional pressure on parents and limits their freedom to choose how their children are raised.
In its submission to the Senate Education and Employment References Committee, the Page Research Centre argues for a fundamental shift towards pro-family policies that recognise the value of parental care, support regional communities and restore genuine choice to Australian families.
Key Findings and Recommendations
- $16.2 billion in annual childcare expenditure, up from approximately $1.5 billion in 2000, with public funding heavily favouring formal childcare rather than supporting a broader range of caregiving arrangements.
- Limited parental choice, with existing childcare subsidies favouring formal care arrangements, even where families prefer parental care, grandparents, relatives or other informal alternatives.
- Strong demand for flexible childcare, with a 2019 survey finding that two-thirds of working mothers supported government subsidies for informal care, even if this meant receiving less financial assistance overall.
- Regional families face distinctive challenges, including long travel distances, limited childcare places and insufficient flexibility. The submission argues that targeted funding for individual families may deliver better outcomes than expanding centre-based services alone.
- A proposed Choice in Care Subsidy for children aged 0–3, supporting parental, kinship, home-based, community and centre-based care, alongside an extension of Paid Parental Leave to 12–18 months.
- Greater financial support for families, including caregiver superannuation credits, optional income splitting, a 25% reduction in HECS-HELP debt per child and child-linked income tax reductions for mothers.
The submission calls for a childcare system built around the needs of children and families, rather than one that privileges institutional care. It argues that strengthening parental choice, recognising unpaid caregiving and making family life more affordable are essential to securing the future of Australia’s regional communities.
