Labor leader Anthony Albanese has used his formal response to this week's Federal Budget to propose an overhaul of Australia's childcare system.
He said it would boost the participation of women in the workforce and economic productivity overall.
But how would it work and what's the verdict from people in the childcare sector?
What is Labor's plan?
The Opposition has argued the existing childcare system is confusing and discourages women from working as many hours as they would like.
It has promised to scrap the annual subsidy cap of $10,560 per child, currently in place for families earning between $189,390 and $353,680 a year.
Mr Albanese has also proposed increasing the maximum childcare subsidy rate from 85 to 90 per cent.
It would mean households earning up to $80,000 a year from July 2022 would only pay 10 per cent of their childcare costs.
For every $1,000 earned after that, the subsidy would drop by 0.2 per cent.
However once a household was earning an annual income of $530,000, there would be no subsidy.
Overall, Labor says 97 per cent of families would save between $600 and $2,900 a year and none would be worse off.
How much would this cost?
The Opposition has estimated its plan would cost $6.2 billion over four years.
If Anthony Albanese became Prime Minister, he would also ask the Productivity Commission to investigate the possibility of introducing a 90 per cent childcare subsidy for all families, a proposal that would significantly add to the price tag.
Assistant Government Minister Jane Hume argued the existing system was working well and that any move towards so-called "universal" childcare would have negative consequences.
"We know that the vast majority of women that use childcare are subsidised between 50 and 85 per cent and overwhelmingly most families pay less than 5 dollars an hour for childcare," she said.
"If you move to a different model, if you move to make childcare universal and free, what you find is perverse outcomes, people overbook it and it makes the positions less accessible."
She also said Labor had not explained how it would pay for its promises.
Will it work?
Childcare advocacy organisations have broadly welcomed Labor's plan, and said it would encourage more women back into the workforce after having kids.
"It's really good to see childcare and early education seen as critical to economic recovery in this country," Early Childhood Australia CEO Samantha Page said.
"That's what we've been trying to say for the last six months, that as we come out of COVID-19 families are going to rely on access and affordability of childcare more than they ever have before and it's really critical that this is seen as an economic investment."
Executive director of The Parenthood, Georgie Dent, agreed removing the $10,560 subsidy cap would make a major difference.
"We know that there are lots of women who don't work more than three days a week because that is the point where the cost of care becomes so expensive," she said.
"So a lot of families shape their work around getting that maximum cap but not exceeding that because then they're sort of going backwards in effect. So this is one change that I think would make a pretty significant difference quite quickly for lots of women and lots of families."
Melbourne mother Carita Cirocco said many parents would welcome extra financial help but she argued it was not the only issue confronting the sector.
"I think society sees childcare as somewhere parents put their kids because they want to do other things. And that's not the case," she said.
"My children are in this sector right at the moment and I want the educators that are looking after my children to feel supported and to be paid accordingly and to have a system that works."
When could these changes come into effect?
Labor would have to win the next federal election, which could be held as early as late next year.
If that happened, it has promised to introduce the new childcare system by 1 July, 2022.
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiZmh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvbmV3cy8yMDIwLTEwLTA5L2xhYm9yLWFudGhvbnktYWxiYW5lc2UtYnVkZ2V0LWZhbWlsaWVzLWNoaWxkLWNhcmUtcGxhbi8xMjc0NjAxMNIBJ2h0dHBzOi8vYW1wLmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvYXJ0aWNsZS8xMjc0NjAxMA?oc=5
2020-10-08 17:47:00Z
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