The Abbott government's changes to childcare subsidies are aimed at getting parents back into jobs, but the only problem is it's not clear where the jobs and childcare places will come from.
Childcare researchers and industry representatives have expressed reservations about the $3.5 billion Jobs for Families childcare package.
Families on incomes of between $65,000 and $170,000 will be about $30 a week better off under a streamlined subsidy system that also introduces an activity test for parents who are not working.
Mr Morrison has said the package, which is set to come into effect in 2017, will encourage 240,000 families to pick up work.
University of New South Wales childcare researcher Elizabeth Adamson said the Jobs for Families package did not, so far, seem to be about creating jobs for parents who might want to return to work.
Dr Adamson said the projections for increased workforce participation ignored complications such as mothers wishing to return to work but not being able to find suitable hours or available childcare places.
"The sector itself doesn't necessarily have the capacity to have spaces for more children," she said.
Early childhood peak body Early Childhood Australia has urged the government to consult further on its tightened activity test, which cuts childcare subsidies to cover 24 hours a fortnight for families on less that $65,000 a year who do not satisfy work or study requirements.
Dr Adamson echoed the call, saying childcare measures had to allow parents to look for work.
"It has to be an enabler rather than an incentive," she said.
"If they are able to have child care for a couple of days a week it's an enabler to look for work, but if they have to already be in work it's quite hard.
"It has to be viewed as an enabler, not as a slap on the back that you can't have childcare subsidies if you are not working."
Australia's approach to child care is in stark contrast to the UK, Dr Adamson said, where children aged three to four are entitled to 15 hours of free child care a week, regardless of their parents' job status.
"I think it's a bit skewed in this workforce participation focus rather than thinking about making it more affordable for children to participate (in child care)," Dr Adamson said.
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