Childcare costs and government assistance

[Reidy]

Hello, 

We are just starting to look into the costs of childcare as me and my husband are likely to be both working full time if we make the move to Perth. We have 2 children below school age, so would need childcare for them both. I've done a little bit of research and found a cost of $97.50 each for a full days childcare, so $195 in total. Would you say this is about average? 

I've also seen that the government assistance towards family's childcare is changing this year and is now a child care subsidy, but this is dependent on the parents meeting the residency requirements. Can anybody tell me what these requirements are and whether we would meet them if we were on a permanent visa?

 

[nicolac34]

Hi Reidy

Costs of childcare range from around $90 per day per child up to $150 per day per child depending on the centre you use. The long-daycare centre I use for example charges $115 per day per child (this is in Caversham, so suburbia). One I used in the CBD was $140 per day. Family day-care (childminding in the persons own home) is usually a bit cheaper.

The system is changing as of 1 July, basically as long as you meed residency requirements (perm visa/citizen) and work/study the required hours you will be entitled to an amount off the daily fee. This is all dependent on your household income and is a sliding scale, the less you earn the more rebate you get.

As an example, an average family, earning average earnings will be entitled to a 50% rebate on the fees. If your household income exceeds $180k a year then your rebate will be capped to $10k per year per child (so if your childcare fees are $22k per year and you earn over the threshold you'd be out of pocket $12k a year). If your income exceeds $350k a year (I think) then you get no rebate at all.

[JaseandAnne]

I would add to this that if your children are not fully vaccinated by Australian standards you wont get any rebate and some child care places will not accept them. An example is that they vaccinate against chicken pox here where as in UK they dont, you just get chicken pox and get over it. They still want to vaccinate even if your child has had chicken pox. 

Prepare yourself for government interference and taxation beyond your wildest dreams!!