This article by Amanda Woodard in Knowledge@Australian School of Business outlines a number of reasons why it's high time we made childcare tax deductible in Australia.  My opinions were sought, along with leading Australian businesswomen including:

• Michelle Guthrie, chair of aid agency Plan International Hong Kong, and a former chief executive of the STAR media and entertainment company in Asia;
• Helen Conway, director of Australia's Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency (EOWA);
• Rosamund Christie, who runs the Australian Graduate School of Management (AGSM) Women in Leadership program;
• Carol Schwartz, Stockland Group director and founding chair of the Women's Leadership Institute Australia; and
• Helen Hodgson, a senior lecturer in Business Law and Taxation at the Australian School of Business.

Here's a sneak preview at what I had to say:

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"Ask any senior professional how they manage work and family and they always have a common denominator: in-home care. They'll also tell you that this represents the single biggest cost relative to their income," says Dalitz. While some employers have gone down the route of employer-sponsored childcare, Dalitz says it's not what most women want. "They want choice when it comes to the care of their children, and most want in-home care. But it costs in the vicinity of A$80,000 to get a quality professional carer to work in-home, so not everyone can afford it, especially if you're still in the leadership pipeline. Most women with young children can't earn assessable income without incurring childcare costs, so why shouldn't this be an allowable deduction against their taxable income?" asks Dalitz.

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And you can read the full article here.  Thanks Amanda for bringing this debate to the fore - and if you haven't yet signed the petition for better childcare options in Australia, please do so at www.makecarefair.com