After the release of an Australia Institute report that shows more than one in three families are struggling with the cost of childcare, the Greens are calling for direct funding to childcare centres to easing cost of living pressure on parents.

“The fact that so many families are struggling to pay for childcare is a problem that cannot be ignored,” the Greens’ childcare spokesperson, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.

The Greens will continue their push for a much needed inquiry into the childcare sector tomorrow, calling on the Senate to order the Productivity Commission to produce a report on the best way of funding childcare in Australia.

The Senate passed a Greens motion calling on the government to establish a Productivity Commission inquiry into the sector in May of last year and it is well beyond time for that investigation to begin, the Greens say.

Direct funding to childcare centres is an essential step to easing cost of living pressure on parents, the Australian Greens said today.

“Breaking the childcare debt cycle with direct payments to childcare centres is a simple step that will go a long way to helping ease the cost of living pressures being felt by Australian families,” the Greens’ childcare spokesperson, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.

After paving the way for the creation of the position, the Australian Greens have today welcomed the appointment of Megan Mitchell as the National Children’s Commissioner.

“Children are some of the most vulnerable people in our society,” the Greens’ youth and early childhood spokesperson, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.

“It is only right that we created the essential role of National Children’s Commissioner.

The Australian Greens have said that it’s time for the Labor Party to get serious about parental leave, making it an enforceable workplace entitlement with proper pay.

“If we acknowledge that pregnant women need more rights at work, including time off, then we should go all the way and legislate to make adequate leave a workplace entitlement with pay,” the Greens youth and childcare spokesperson, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said today.

The Greens launched a national childcare survey today, at www.childcarepoll.com, giving parents around Australia a chance to tell their stories about the experience of enrolling their children into care.

“We want to hear what mums and dads across the nation have to say about what works and what doesn’t work when it comes to finding quality, affordable care for their children” Greens’ childcare and early education spokesperson, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.

Investment in the childcare sector is needed to ensure as many Australian children as possible get the best start in life, the Australian Greens said today.

“The government needs to do more to ensure that we have quality childcare across Australia, rather than listen to Tony Abbott who thinks that high quality care for our children is just a burden on the sector,” the Greens childcare spokesperson, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.

A Greens survey of over 230 childcare centres across Australia has found that fees and waiting lists are continuing to grow while the number of available places is shrinking.

"Several concerning trends have arisen from the survey which clearly shows that many parents will be finding it harder to enrol their children into childcare today than they were two years ago,” the Greens childcare spokesperson, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.

The Greens have announced a Treasury costed scheme today that would help to attract hundreds of teachers into childcare centres around the country, while also encouraging them to stay in the industry.

The scheme would see a year of HELP debt waived for every year that tertiary educated teachers remain in the long day care sector (more information on the scheme is included in the media briefing attached).