A Productivity Commission review which opened for submissions in March is looking at how Australia's early childhood education and care sector could be more accessible and better support children's learning and development.
Economist Conrad Liveris said the way free child care had traditionally worked around the world was that it was delivered by the state. "It is a subsidy system that provides a subsidy for something, but it can't can't do it all and so the only way to get free childcare in Australia in a cost-effective way would be to have government agencies step in and be a bigger provider."
NSW and Victoria recently expanded their education systems to allow for an additional year of free play-based schooling for those in their states, providing parents with a no-cost form of child care from an earlier age.