The Government on Sun 17.11.2013, announced the establishment of a Productivity Commission Inquiry into Child Care and Early Childhood Learning. The Prime Minister said the Inquiry will identify how the current system can be improved to make it more responsive to the needs of parents.
The scope of the inquiry says the Productivity Commission should use evidence from Australia and overseas to report on and make recommendations about matters such as the contribution that access to affordable, high quality child care can make, and the current and future need for child care in Australia.
The inquiry has also been asked to look at options for enhancing the choices available to families as to how they receive child care support, so that this can occur in the manner most suitable to their individual family circumstances. Mechanisms to be considered include subsidies, rebates and tax deductions, to improve the accessibility, flexibility and affordability of child care for families facing diverse individual circumstances.
The final report is due before the end of October 2014.
Source: Prime Minister’s media release, 17 November 2013
[LTN 223, 18/11/13]