Australian policy frameworks aim at minimization of economic disadvantages through a balance of universal and targeted interventions. Family Tax Benefits (Parts A and B) provide income support to those families that do have dependent children (Services Australia, 2024), and the Child Care Subsidy (CCS) helps reduce childcare fees, with greater support levels given to lower-income earners (Productivity Commission, 2023). The National Housing and Homelessness Agreement (NHHA) supports states and territories as they work on housing affordability and homeless services (AIHW, 2023), whereas the Closing the Gap strategy includes some economic targets for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities (Australian Government, 2023).
Beginning with rental affordability and the cost of living, ABS data confirm these pressures as continually increasing; focus on reforms and investments must, therefore, continue to be emphasized (ABS, 2024). In the provisioning of early childhood education and care services, the Community Child Care Fund (CCCF) contributed to the viability of services largely in disadvantaged areas so that children may still access early learning (Productivity Commission, 2023). Despite subsidies and funding to encourage participation, barriers such as the shortage of facilities in rural areas and lack of options for flexible working arrangements still inhibit access (Torii & Fox, 2020).