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New online tool to help families budget for child care |
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Written by Brendan O'Connor
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Friday, 08 January 2010 |
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Brendan O’Connor, Member for Gorton, today welcomed the launch of a new online tool to help families budget for child care.
The Child Care Estimator, launched today by Minister for Early Childhood Education and Child Care Kate Ellis, shows families what financial support the Government can give them through the Child Care Benefit and Child Care Rebate.“As families in Melbourne’s west plan for 2010, the Estimator will help them make more accurate and well informed decisions about child care,” Mr O’Connor said.“This is another way the Rudd Labor Government is helping parents and carers meet the cost of child care and decide what best suits their child’s needs.”Ms Ellis said the Australian Government has invested $2.5 million in developing the Child Care Estimator on the Government’s online hub for parents: mychild.gov.au.“We’ve already delivered on our election promise to pay half of families’ out-of-pocket child care costs by increasing the Child Care Rebate from 30 to 50 per cent,” Ms Ellis said.“That move has dramatically improved affordability, with ABS statistics showing child care costs to parents have fallen by more than 20 per cent as a result,” Ms Ellis said.The Child Care Estimator is part of recent upgrades to mychild.gov.au and builds on the suite of estimators currently available on the Centrelink website. The new Child Care Estimator is also available at centrelink.gov.au.In November, Ms Ellis announced new features on mychild.gov.au to help parents easily access child care vacancy information. Mr O’Connor said the website families can now get information about vacancies and fees at thousands of centres across Australia, find centres on a map and see a street view.“With the new Child Care Estimator, mychild.gov.au is a valuable resource for families and carers in Melbourne’s west as they start looking at their child care options for the new year,” Mr O’Connor said.For more information on Australian Government early childhood education and child care initiatives visit www.mychild.gov.au or call 1300 363 079.
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