Earlier this year, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese outlined an ambitious vision.
With more than a million Australian households using childcare in the last year, the cornerstone of his policy was a reform to give hundreds of thousands of families expanded access to subsidies.
But the latest report on the childcare sector from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission suggests families are struggling with the financial burden of early childhood.
The report has found Australians pay more for childcare than almost anywhere else in the world.
The ACCC says the average Australian household, with two incomes and two kids in care, spends around 16 per cent of its budget on childcare, much higher than the O-E-C-D average of nine percent.
But the latest report on the childcare sector from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission suggests families are struggling with the financial burden of early childhood.
The report has found Australians pay more for childcare than almost anywhere else in the world.