The discount, which is expected to run for a few months, was inspired by Qantas and Virgin offering cheaper seats to encourage people to fly again after border restrictions were dropped.
“It’s exactly the same as planes – we are flying planes that are half full,” Mr Buck said. “We want to get people back into the CBD, and the CBD needs a real kick-along.”
The number of workers returning to Brisbane’s CBD rose from 13 per cent in June 2021 to 41 per cent in February, the Property Council of Australia’s latest Office Occupancy survey shows.
However, flooding in south-east Queensland in late February and early March reversed the back-to-office momentum, with schools briefly closed and workers ordered to work from home again.
During the flood clean-up, train and bus timetables were disrupted and petrol prices rose sharply, which became a further disincentive for commuters to come back to the city, despite Brisbane City Council switching off its parking meters.
“Parents have worked out it costs them $5000 a year to work in the CBD – that’s uniforms, lunches, coffee and transport,” Mr Buck said.
He said the centre had made the discount greater than the price of going back to the CBD, which could add up to a saving of $250 per week before the federal childcare subsidy is applied.
“We’ve got the capacity to offer these discounts for some months, and we’re happy to do it,” Mr Buck said.
Rebecca Stacey, also a director at Brisbane City Child Care, said the discount would help families address the current cost of living pressures.
We are working to support our families by providing some relief from cost of living pressures.
— Rebecca Stacey, co-director at Brisbane City Child Care
“We are working to support our families by providing some relief from cost of living pressures. We feel that will benefit their children’s learning and education as well,” she said.
“We have beautiful play spaces and fabulous facilities, and we’re very lucky that we have the capacity to provide additional CBD education and care for more children in the city.”
Mr Buck, who has operated the centre for 18 years, said the shift to working from home had been the most dramatic change he had seen in the CBD.
“We got through the GFC without the problems that are occurring at the present time – this is much deeper.”
Childcare provider G8 education, which has almost 470 centres trading under brands including Jellybeans and Buggles, has previously said it has no plans to acquire or build new CBD facilities.
“I think the reality of people not working five days every week in an office environment is going to stay,” said G8 chief executive Gary Carroll.
“We haven’t opened a CBD centre for a while, and we don’t have any on our radar.”
