Child care subsidy: Wagga faces cost divide under changes

Child care workers say changes to federal subsidies have benefited a lot of parents and their children, but eligibility for subsidies based on parent employment was leaving some families behind.

The government has defended changes to the subsidy, which pays up to $150 or more per week, saying overall family costs are down.

The latest federal Department of Education report into child care shows Wagga services are among the more affordable in NSW, but care centres say it all depends on subsidies.

During December, the Centre Based Day Care average fee per hour in Wagga was $9.12 following a 5.3 per cent increase over the previous 12 months.

Wagga's costs were higher than Tumut and Tumbarumba, which were at $7.76 average per hour, but lower than at Griffith and in regions such as Illawarra and Murray.

Raelene Goesch, the area coordinator for PE4K Child Care, which runs three centres in Wagga, said subsidies were helping more people get their care spending down to $30 per day, but there were still families being left out.

"The government changes have made (care) a lot more affordable for parents who are working, and makes it more affordable for them to work," she said.

"It has also disadvantaged those who don't work who can't afford child care.

"Early childhood education is important for those going to school the following year but in some cases parents can't afford more than one day a week under the new subsidy."

Wiradjuri Aboriginal Corporation Community Child Care Centre chairwoman Lorraine Lyons said the new subsidy system was putting pressure on the centre as it transitioned away from running as a government service.

"The number of families is dropping dramatically and we are very concerned about survival," she said.

Ms Lyons said Indigenous families had been hardest hit, and there was a risk of them "just giving up" on securing child care subsidies and attempting to return to the workforce.

"Before the changes came into effect, the children could come here five days a week but now the majority are eligible for only one or two days a week," she said.

Education Minister Dan Tehan said last week that out-of-pocket child care costs for families were down 7.9 per cent since the government changed the CCS on July 2.