Family Assistance Legislation Amendment (Cheaper Child Care) Act 2022

1 Short title

This Act is the Family Assistance Legislation Amendment (Cheaper Child Care) Act 2022.

2 Commencement

Each provision of this Act specified in column 1 of the table commences, or is taken to have commenced, in accordance with column 2 of the table. Any other statement in column 2 has effect according to its terms.

Note: This table relates only to the provisions of this Act as originally enacted. It will not be amended to deal with any later amendments of this Act.

Any information in column 3 of the table is not part of this Act. Information may be inserted in this column, or information in it may be edited, in any published version of this Act.

3 Schedules

Legislation that is specified in a Schedule to this Act is amended or repealed as set out in the applicable items in the Schedule concerned, and any other item in a Schedule to this Act has effect according to its terms.

4 Review of this Act

The Minister must cause an independent review to be conducted of the operation of the amendments made by this Act.

Without limiting subsection (1), the review must consider the impact of the amendments made by this Act on:

the cost of child care fees and the loss of subsidies to price increases and inflation; and

the creation of new and additional child care places; and

changes to service gaps across Australia, particularly in rural, regional and remote Australia; and

changes to Indigenous children’s attendance, specifically any increase in the number of Indigenous children attending child care; and

the number of early childhood educators and any workforce gaps; and

any increase to the workforce participation rate; and

any increases in productivity.

The persons who conduct the review must consider both quantitative and qualitative research in conducting the review.

The review must commence no later than 1 July 2024.

The persons who conduct the review must give the Minister a written report of the review within 3 months of the commencement of the review.

The Minister must cause a copy of the report to be tabled in each House of the Parliament within 15 sitting days of that House after the report is given to the Minister.