No Room for Babies at Childcare Centres!

CHILDCARE centres are scrapping places for babies, as working parents wait up to two years for day care.

Three in every four long-daycare centres in Australia's capital cities do not have vacancies for babies, a new survey has revealed.

And two-thirds do not have places left for toddlers.

In Perth, parents are having to wait up to two years for a place forcing them to quit their jobs, rely on grandparents, or hire expensive nannies or unqualified babysitters.

The Greens' survey of 231 private and community daycare centres nationally in the past week shows that vacancies for babies have fallen 10 per cent since 2010.

In Perth, 19 per cent of centres have a waiting list six to 12 months long. And in 13 per cent of the 23 centres surveyed, parents are waiting up to two years for a place.

"The Government needs to be doing far more to improve both the quality and availability of child care while also helping mums and dads cover the costs"

Perth parents are paying an average of $90 a day in childcare fees almost as much as in Melbourne ($96) and Sydney ($101).

The proportion of Perth centres with no vacancies for babies has jumped from half in 2010 to 61 per cent this year. And 58 per cent of Perth centres do not have vacancies for toddlers.

Australian Childcare Alliance president Gwynn Bridge said yesterday that parents were putting their unborn babies' names down on as many as 14 waiting lists at once.

Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said there was obviously a looming crisis in the sector.

"The Government needs to be doing far more to improve both the quality and availability of child care while also helping mums and dads cover the costs," she said.

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Australian Childcare Alliance president Gwynn Bridge said yesterday that parents were putting their unborn babies' names down on as many as 14 waiting lists at once.

"In Perth, parents are having to wait up to two years for a place forcing them to quit their jobs, rely on grandparents, or hire expensive nannies or unqualified babysitters"

This report by Channel Seven News: was published on Jun 3, 2012. Australian Unions called for a solution to Australia's child care crisis, with a new funding system to curb a sharp rise in fees.