SNAICC – National Voice for our Children has welcomed the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's second interim report into childcare costs and accessibility, and urged the Federal Government to take "bold and necessary measures" to ensure early learning and care are more accessible and affordable for families across the country.

This week SNAICC called on the government to abolish, or at least modify, the childcare Activity Test; boost investment in Aboriginal Community Controlled services; and scale up regional and rural early learning infrastructure to address the challenges with "childcare deserts" (areas with little to no services).

SNAICC chief executive Catherine Liddle said that if implemented, the recommendations would make "a meaningful difference" in improving early learning access and affordability, especially for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families and children.

"The ACCC's report clearly identifies that there are several barriers still preventing many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families and children from accessing high-quality early learning and care," she said.

"If implemented, the recommendations laid out by The Commission will help ensure that meaningful steps are taken to address these challenges.

"In its first interim report, the ACCC highlighted that there are significant gaps in early learning participation rates for Indigenous children, with only 51 per cent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children aged 0 to 5 being enrolled in childcare in 2022, compared to 60% of all Australian children."

Ms Liddle said that arguably the most significant bureaucratic barrier enabling this gap is the childcare Activity Test, which places "unfair limits on the number of hours of subsidised care that can be accessed by families".

"We've heard countless accounts of how the Activity Test has and continues to act as a significant challenge for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families wanting to access early learning services," she said.

"Further, we know that its removal will improve early learning participation rates for Indigenous children because it did exactly that when the Activity Test requirements were removed for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families during the pandemic.

"And the ACCC's second interim childcare report now joins several other official Governmental panels and bodies in calling for the removal or serious modification of the Activity Test. It is high time the Federal Government scrap this punitive test."

The SNAICC head said the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission had correctly recognised and called for an expansion of "the critical role" Aboriginal Community Controlled services play in providing childcare and wraparound support for families.

"The government must ensure that funding and investment for Aboriginal Community Controlled services is increased, to allow Indigenous children the opportunity to access culturally appropriate care and holistic family supports in their early years," she said.

"Further, addressing the issues and challenges with 'Childcare Desserts' should also be a key priority for the Federal Government. No measure to improve early learning access will lead to positive outcomes without concrete action on addressing the lack of services in Australia's regional and remote communities.

"Improving early learning access and making it more affordable is in all of our best interests and we strongly urge the Federal Government to adopt the draft recommendations laid out by the ACCC's interim report."

Federal Minister for Early Childhood Education Dr Anne Aly told National Indigenous Times that "all children, no matter their background or where they live, should be able to access the transformational benefits of quality early childhood education and care".

"The successful Connected Beginnings program has been structured so that First Nations communities are empowered to design and deliver the program in a way which supports their individual needs and aspirations. The program is delivering significant positive results for First Nations children, we're already seeing an increase in the hours of early childhood education and care along with an increase in preschool enrolments," she said.

Parents, educators, providers and other interested parties are encouraged to have their say on the draft findings and recommendations from the ACCC's consultation paper. The report is available online and submissions are open until 29 October 2023.

In a joint ministerial statement the government said all submissions will be considered by the ACCC with its final report to be provided to Australian government by 31 December 2023. The ACCC findings will be considered alongside the Productivity Commission inquiry into early childhood education and care which will "provide advice on making the system more affordable and accessible for families for the next decade and beyond".