The cost of childcare has been a political bugbear for more than a decade. But a submission to a government inquiry into childcare has found a novel solution: low-cost nannies from Asia.

The Indonesia Institute, a Perth-based think tank, says carers from countries such as Indonesia and the Philippines should be allowed to come to Australia and mind children for $200 a week to help ease pressure on family budgets.

The nannies would be entitled to Sundays off and a return airfare home for two weeks each year.

Under the scheme families would provide their Asian child carers with accommodation, clothing and medical insurance. The nannies would be entitled to Sundays off and a return airfare home for two weeks each year. A special agency would regulate the scheme and ensure foreign workers were not mistreated.

The institute acknowledges its plan might encounter "some entrenched protectionist opposition" but argues "the great bulk of Australian opinion would recognise the substantial gains from trade that would accrue to both Australian families and Asian nannies".