Childcare workers are warning that new rules around staffing may increase costs for the service and are calling on the government to act.
Nesha O'Neil, a childcare operator and president of Childcare NSW, told SBS that new rules set to come into effect in 2016 will hike the cost of childcare, countering the government's pledge to bring costs down.
"The changes that are coming up in 11 months in 2016 across Australia are going to undermine that completely by increasing fees," she said.
Following changes to childcare staff ratios under the Labor government in 2012, centres in NSW, South Australia, Queensland and Victoria will be forced to hire extra staff next year.
Ms O’Neil said it was likley to increase fees, again.
"Fees to parents will increase by somewhere between 20 and 60 per cent depending on how the service operates," she said.
From January 2016, all daycare centres must have one carer for every five two year olds and one for every 11 children aged three to five.
Childcare operators said that could cause fees to jump by an average of $60 a day in Sydney, $14 in Queensland, $28 in Adelaide and $7 in Melbourne.
Some peak body groups for childcare centres agreed that lower ratios were a positive step forward, giving staff more time with individual children.
But they were concerned about what those changes would mean when it came to fees and accessibility to services.
Gwynn Bridge of the Australian Childcare Alliance said the changes should be staggered.
"What we would be asking the government to do is to look closely at not making all these changes come in on the first of January 2016," she said.
"To defer the ratio changes until such time as government can pay for them; to phase them in gently over a period of time."
On Monday, Tony Abbott dumped his signature paid parental leave scheme in favour of increased support for child care.
He said the government would spend the next few months consulting on its "better and fairer" childcare and families policy.
Labor and the Greens are demanding the government release a Productivity Commission report into child care, ahead of a March 23 deadline for its tabling in parliament.
The federal minister responsible for childcare wasn't available for comment before this report was compiled on Wednesday.
- With AAP
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