Minderoo Foundation’s Thrive by Five campaign has renewed its calls for the Federal Government to introduce daily price caps for childcare and engage in more direct market intervention, following the announcement of record profit growth by G8 Education on the back of recent fee hikes.
G8 Education noted a 53 per cent yearly profit increase in 2023, amounting to $56.1 million, following the introduction of five fee hikes for families.
Thrive by Five’s Jay Weatherill said that profit growth based on fee hikes for families underscored the need for more bold and direct market intervention by the Federal Government.
“At a time when families are doing it tough due to cost of living pressures, we are seeing childcare providers enjoy soaring profit on the back of repeated fee increases.
“The Federal Government must take concrete action to ensure that families are not being taken advantage of.
“To have the largest early learning provider in the country record more than $56 million in profit when we know many families continue to struggle with affordability, highlights why we need more direct market intervention and daily price caps.
“Many families across the country have had to make very tough financial decisions to cut down on essential spending to accommodate early learning fee increases.
“The Federal Government has taken measures to provide families with vital financial relief through increased child care subsidies, but in many instances, these increases are absorbed by fee hikes by childcare providers.
“Thrive by Five is calling for a $10 a day early learning price cap to provide significant financial relief to families and enable more children to access the benefits of high-quality early learning.
“Direct market intervention through daily price caps would help the Federal Government ensure that every Australian family has access to high-quality affordable early learning,” Mr Weatherill said.
