Council childcare fees to rise steeply

One of the significant price rises as passed in the recent Glen Eira 2011/12 budget was the steep rise in childcare fees as charged for those attending Council's centres.

The primary reason for these increases is the change in staff ratios in Victoria for 0-3 year old children from 1:5 to 1:4 to commence from Jan 2012 and are set out below;

• For 0–3 year olds from $85 to $91 per day (from 1 July to 31 December 2011)
• For 0–3 year olds from $91 to $116 per day (from 1 January to 30 June 2012)
• For 3–5 year olds from $79 to $85 per day.

Council took the view that the full amount should be passed onto families.
I advocated for a lesser amount as I felt other providers wouldn't pass on the full amount but instead absorb some of the cost leaving Council at the higher end of the market and not in a reasonable middle range of fees. This in turn would act as a deterrent to families utilising our excellent childcare service. Setting our fees so early before other providers added to this concern.

I will certainly be requesting a review of the fee situation as soon as a majority of providers have released their 2012 fee structure