Summary

Amends the:

to: provide families earning up to $80,000 a child care subsidy (CCS) rate of 90 per cent, and families earning over $80,000 a CCS rate that tapers down by one percentage point for each additional $5,000 of family income until it reaches zero per cent for families earning $350,000; and provide additional discretion to allow payment of CCS for absences in exceptional circumstances; to: expand existing financial reporting requirements to all types of approved child care providers; enable the publication of certain information received from large child care providers online; require child care providers to collect gap fees via electronic funds transfer; make good governance an eligibility requirement for provider approval; enable the secretary to specify the information an attendance report by a provider must contain; clarify the interactions with CCS where providers waive gap fees for families in prescribed events or circumstances; and extend the period for passing on fee reduction amounts to families in limited circumstances; to remove the existing higher CCS for families with multiple children (due to commence from July 2023); and to: provide for a base level of 36 subsidised hours of child care per fortnight for First Nations children, regardless of activity levels; permit child care providers to offer a discount on child care fees to staff engaged as educators, without this affecting the amount of CCS payable for the educator; and make technical amendments.