Childcare fees high in WA, ACCC finds

Western Australia has topped the national list of highest average fees for outside-school childcare sessions, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has found.

The ACCC’s inquiry into childcare fees found prices rose faster than inflation and wage growth in the past four years.

The interim report, published today, found outside-school-hours care services have the highest average fees in WA and the Australian Capital Territory.

While fees were relatively similar across the rest of Australia, the ACCC found the highest average session fee for outside-school-hours care services was in WA with $41.66, followed by the ACT at $35.68.

“If we look at the average hourly fee for outside-school-hours care services, which accounts for differences in session length, we observe the ACT ($10.75) is slightly higher than WA ($10.11),” the ACCC report said.

“This suggests the average session of care is longer in WA than the ACT.

“However, we observe that across all areas by remoteness, the average session fee is much higher in WA than in other states and territories.

“Higher average fees in regional and remote areas of WA could be partly explained by the large number of mining towns in this state, however, we will continue to explore this finding over the course of our inquiry.

“In particular, we will examine the cost structures for these services, including whether there are higher costs in these areas and/or less ability to share costs across services.”

The ACCC found WA had a significant number of outside-school-hours care services charging more than the rate cap at 32 per cent.

However, the ACCC said this was driven by outside-school-hours services in remote parts of the state.

“Of note, centre based day care services in remote Australia are more likely to charge above the hourly rate cap in comparison to services in inner regional and outer regional Australia and very remote Australia,” its report said.

In average fees for family day care services, the ACCC found NSW and WA as having the widest spread of fees.

The ACCC's interim report comprised of data collected from childcare providers around the country and a national survey of more than 4,000 parents and guardians, according to the consumer watchdog.

“Child care plays a vital role in Australian society, with more than one million Australian families using childcare last year,” ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said.

“We have spent the past six months collecting information to gain insights into what is important to families when selecting and using child care, and what factors contribute to the price and availability of child care in different areas.”

The federal government has increased the childcare subsidy from July 1, as part of a $4.7 billion allocation in the 2022-23 budget for cheaper child care.