Child Care News
Gold Coast gastro outbreak spreads with 16 childcare centres, schools and aged care centres affected
ABC Gold Coast - By Tom Forbes and Nicole Dyer - October 28, 2020The Gold Coast is in the grip of a gastroenteritis outbreak, with 16 childcare centres, schools and aged care centres affected and health authorities are investigating cases at five more facilities. Andre Wattiaux from the Gold Coast Public Health said the outbreak is spreading...
Childcare centres don't have to publish fees on government transparency site
Sydney Morning Herald - Katina Curtis - October 28, 2020Childcare centres are not required to publish their fees on a website the government says is the key transparency measure for parents to understand if they're paying too much. But work towards naming and shaming childcare centres that charge excessive fees...
Liberal MPs want focus on access to childcare over fee subsidies
Sydney Morning Herald - Katina Curtis and Jennifer Duke - October 28, 2020Female Coalition MPs want to rethink the $9 billion spent on childcare subsidies each year to make sure it helps parents who work irregular hours, but they say constituents are not flagging high fees as a problem. The government has come under fire from economists and childcare...
Canberra childcare centre fetches $7.8 million at auction
Commercial Real Estate - Jack Needham - October 28, 2020A NSW-based private investor has snapped up a newly built Canberra childcare centre for $7.8 million at auction on Wednesday. The result was the highest at Burgess Rawson Melbourne’s latest portfolio auction day at which all seven properties sold. The property, at 54 Kunapalari Street,Throsby...
End of free childcare leads to jump in prices ahead of expected interest rate cut
ABC News - Sue Lannin and Rachel Pupazzoni - October 28, 2020Childcare was the most significant price rise in the CPI from June to September, with the cost of pre-school and primary education jumping 11.1 per cent after free childcare ended on July 13, and the Child Care Subsidy was reintroduced...
Report sheds light on 16-month-old's death at Sydney childcare centre but questions for authorities remain
ABC News 7.30 - Julia Baird - October 28, 2020More than two years ago, the sudden, unexplained death of their 16-month-old daughter, Arianna, left Jozef Maragol and Anet Eyvazians shattered and searching for answers. No-one from the childcare centre in Sydney's west where Arianna had spent that day, the Berry Patch Preschool...
Inflation rises to 0.7pc as free childcare removed
Financial Review - Matthew Cranston - October 28, 2020Australia recorded the biggest quarterly rise in inflation since 2006, increasing 1.6 per cent in the September quarter, following the record fall in the previous quarter. Annual headline inflation rose to 0.7 per cent in the year to September, up from -0.3 per cent, as pandemic-related...
Childcare centre with 15-year lease in place hits the market
The Toowoomba Chronicle - Matthew Newton - October 28, 2020A Toowoomba childcare centre with a 15-year triple net lease has hit the market. The centre is currently leased to Lead Childcare – a successful and experienced private operator with 15 centres throughout the state, and is for sale via offers to purchase. Located at 515-521 Bridge St...
CPI to show spike as free child care ended
The West Australian - Colin Brinsden - October 28, 2020Rising petrol prices and an end to the free childcare package that was introduced at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to result in a sharp jump in inflation. But economists do not expect this will prevent the Reserve Bank of Australia from cutting the cash rates...
Radioactive sand scare on Straddie
The Courtier Mail - Elise Williams - October 28, 2020Dangerous levels of radioactive sand last week forced the partial closure of a daycare centre on Stradbroke Island. The Courier Mail can reveal the Stradbroke Early Learning Centre at Dunwich on North Stradbroke Island was forced to temporarily close parts of their campus after concerns...
Kindergarten teachers offered cash grants to take on regional jobs
The Age - Anna Prytz - October 27, 2020Early Childhood Education Minister Ingrid Stitt announced an extra $510,000 in financial incentives on Tuesday as the state government rolls out subsidised three-year-old kindergarten as part of a wider push for teachers to take jobs in regional Victoria. "Regional areas need...
Investors shun government leases for petrol stations and childcare
Financial Review - Larry Schlesinger - October 27, 2020Private investors shunned government-tenanted buildings in regional towns and instead snapped up petrol stations and childcare centres at a commercial property auction held in Sydney on Tuesday. Of the 10 properties offered for sale by real estate agents Burgess Rawson...
Two Melbourne child care centres listed through Savills
Property Observer - October 27, 2020Two Melbourne child care investments are set to hit the market, just in time to take advantage of the easing of restrictions across Victoria. The two new centres are located in Burwood and Point Cook and are leased to Amiga Montessori, a child care providers in the state...
Childcare worker used phone to download illegal images
Victor Harbor Times - Albury Court - October 27, 2020A Lavington childcare worker has avoided jail after accessing child pornography. James Monohan used his phone to search the internet for photos of girls aged as young as 13 in January last year, with most of the images depicting those aged 14 to 16. Albury detectives received information...
How government assessors rated every South Australian childcare centre
The Advertiser - Emily Jarvis, The Messenger - October 27, 2020The number of government inspections of South Australian childcare centres this year is almost a third of what it was in 2019. According to the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA), between January and September 2020, 67 SA childcare centres ...
