"THIS GOVERNMENT is only interested in papering over the cracks of childcare for the next few weeks and months as they hunt for every vote they can get to hold onto power," said Jeff Lawrence, national secretary of the childcare workers' union (LHMU), in response to the Liberals' childcare policy announced in the federal budget.After a decade of policies forcing women out of work and back into the home, the Liberals now boast that they are increasing access to childcare.

But the policy centrepiece-the 30 per cent rebate for out of pocket expences-is merely a rewrite of the failed 2004 childcare policy.

After July 2007, parents will receive the rebate as a Centrelink payment rather than as a tax rebate, which had been taking up to 18 months to come through.

Costello claims that 700,000 families will benefit from the changes. But it is obvious that some families will benefit more than others.

Costs still unaffordable

Low income families that are already receiving benefit payments will receive a smaller rebate because it is paid on out-of-pocket expenses. What's more, far from the $8000 per child that Costello promised at the last election the average rebate was $813.

And childcare costs are rising continuously-since 2000 they have risen 62 per cent. But the childcare benefit has increased by only 15 per cent, or a maximum of $19 dollars over the same period.

Costello's budget does nothing to bolster quality, accessibility and affordability of childcare. Deregulation and privatisation of child care services means that it is treated as a commodity subject to the full force of the market.

Lawrence believes that, "increasing the Child Care Benefit will do nothing to check the rampant inflation in child care fees Australian parents have suffered."

Fairfax columnist Adele Horin claims that, "leaving it up to the market to decide where child-care centres are built has failed, and the Government is doing nothing to tackle problems of oversupply and undersupply of places".

Need not profit

A rational plan of action would require taking responsibiltiy for supplying child-care places in areas of need, where market conditions discourage for-profit operators from investing, and where not-for-profit centres also find it difficult to set up.

But this would undermine the real benefactors of the childcare budget-private childcare providers, such as the corporate giant ABC Learning.

ABC Learning made $38 million in profit in 2005 and revenues of $219.8 million. Disgracefully, $128 million of this came from government subsidies.

In contrast to the bosses, childcare workers are amongst the most poorly paid and trained in the country.

A childcare worker with a degree can expect to earn $33,000 a year. The LHMU claim that this the biggest issue facing the sector, impacting on the quality of services and the longevity of the industry.

By Sarah Thorne