Fees for night childcare scare off parents Out of step: Toddlers at World Tower Child Care in Haymarket, which offers a service for $60 an hour between 7pm and 7am. The operator of Sydney's only 24-hour childcare centre has warned the federal government trial of around-the-clock childcare will fail if it does not subsidise the cost for parents to make it cheaper than hiring a babysitter. In July, the government will start a 12-month trial of 24-hour childcare at family day care services in NSW, Victoria and Queensland, and a trial of extended opening hours at some GoodStart Early Learning centres. The manager of World Tower Child Care in the city, Natalie Debes, warned the trial's popularity would depend on how much the government subsidised the after-hours care. "It would have to be cheaper than paying someone to come to your home," Ms Debes said. Childcare Minister Kate Ellis said "we do expect fees to be affordable" for parents in the trial. Her spokesman could not say whether fees would be on par with, or cheaper than, hiring a babysitter, but said they would be more affordable than after-hours care available at some private centres. World Tower has been offering Sydney families 24-hour childcare since 2006. However, Ms Debes said she could "count on two hands" the parents who had used this service. "We get lots of inquiries," Ms Debes said. Everybody is as keen as anything until we tell them the cost. World Tower charges $60 an hour for care between 7pm and 7am and parents must pay for a minimum of four hours' care. In comparison, it costs $140 a day for regular childcare at World Tower, while a babysitter charges about $25 an hour. Zoe Jolevska was interested in after-hours care at World Tower for her daughter Sophia, so she and her husband could take some visiting friends out for dinner. "It's really hard to get a babysitter we feel comfortable with looking after Sophia," Mrs Jolevska said. [World Tower] is the ideal set-up. Sophia goes there in the day, she knows the people. Mrs Jolevska said they were happy to leave their daughter there until they found out the cost. "It was quite substantial," she said. It was more than if you had a private babysitter. The federal government will spend $1.3 million on its trial of flexible childcare, and is promising subsidies of up to 50 per cent to centres that participate in the pilot.