Child Care Tax Rebate Payments confirm real out of pocket expenses for child care

“With 330,000 working families now having received their Child Care Tax Rebate for 2006-07, it is absolutely clear what the real out of pocket expenses are for these families’ child care,” Minister for Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, Mal Brough, said today.

“Because the Child Care Tax Rebate (CCTR) covers 30 per cent of out of pocket expenses, we now know for a fact that working families are paying, on average, out of pocket expenses of less than $35 per week for child care after all Federal Government subsidies are taken into account.

“We know this because the average payment of CCTR for 2006-07 has been $740 – which is 30 per cent of the cost that families actually paid for their child care.

“Jenny Macklin knows this and has said as much in previous statements on May 6 and 9 this year when she said: “The average payment under the childcare tax rebate is closer to $813 per family per year (Media statement 9th May 2007) and “…on average they only got $800” (Doorstop media conference 6th June)

“This confirmation from both the Labor Party and the Child Care Tax Rebate figures, which is based on real money paid by real families and real child care tax rebate received, is irrefutable.”