Quality education and care must be assured for parents looking for in home care for their children, the Australian Greens have said today.

"Minister Morrison’s nannies pilot program quite simply looks like a rebadging of the In Home Care program”, Greens spokesperson for Early Childhood Education and Care, Senator Hanson-Young said.

“The Minister needs to confirm whether this is new money or if it is being taken from the existing In Home Care program.

Tony Abbott's childcare announcement contained no detail and lacked any commitment to increased funding that the sector desperately needs, the Australian Greens have said.

"Childcare funding must be increased to ease the impact of soaring fees," the Greens' early education and care spokesperson, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.

"When it comes to childcare, Tony Abbott needs to put his money where his mouth is. The early education sector is critically underfunded in Australia and it will take more than motherhood statements and tinkering at the edges to save it.

“Fred Nile's comments are naive and misinformed. He is completely out of touch with the needs of modern day parents”, Greens’ spokesperson for early childhood education and care, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.

“Comparing childcare to orphanages is absurd and an insult to both women and men around the country.

“It's time for selective moralisers like Mr Nile to lay off the ‘parent guilt’”.

The Australian Greens have called on the Abbott government to release the Productivity Commission's childcare report immediately.

"The childcare sector is in crisis and the government must release this report immediately," the Greens' childcare spokesperson, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.

"What the draft report showed us is that, if the government doesn't increase funding, the childcare crisis will continue to worsen. Tinkering at the edges won't do anything until overall childcare funding is increased.

An overwhelming 86% of Australian parents say that fees are one of their biggest concerns when it comes to getting their children into regular childcare, an Australian Greens poll of over 1000 parents has found.

"Parents from around the country are struggling under the weight of increasing childcare fees and it's time the government acted," the Greens' childcare spokesperson, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.

"More mums and dads are struggling to keep their kids in care because of the cost and that is a very worrying sign.

The Productivity Commission's draft report into the childcare sector shows encouraging signs but more detail is needed to guarantee the best possible outcome for all Australian families, the Australian Greens have said.

"This report is a step in the right direction, but it has clearly shown that a funding boost is essential if the childcare sector is going to meet the needs of Australian families," the Greens' childcare spokesperson, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.

Figures released by the Greens have shown that some families will reach the childcare rebate cap before the end of each financial year, and will be hit even harder by new legislation introduced today. Today the Greens have appealed to the new cross bench to work with them to block these measures in the Senate.

“This is a hit to families who are already struggling to make ends meet,” the Greens spokesperson for childcare, Sarah Hanson-Young said.

The Labor party and the Abbott Government have teamed up in the Senate to wave through the governments savage cuts to childcare.

“Labor and the Abbott government have ripped thousands of dollars from the pockets of Australian families, at a time when parents are already struggling to meet the rising cost of childcare,” the Greens' childcare spokesperson, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.

The worsening situation in the Australian childcare sector, as highlighted by a national survey of centres' fees and availability, shows that the Abbott Government must increase support for centres and families, not cut it in the upcoming Federal Budget.

"Parents are being forced to pay more for childcare while waiting lists are growing across the country," the Greens' childcare spokesperson, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.

More than $78 million will be ripped out of South Australian universities in the next four years if the Coalition's cuts to higher education go ahead, say Australian Greens Senators for South Australia Penny Wright and Sarah Hanson Young.

The party this week launched a national campaign lobbying selected Labor MPs for their support in blocking the Coalition's plan to rip $2.3 billion out of the higher education budget.