Child Care News
Childcare centre allegedly exposed child to risk during excursion
The Courier Mail - Kara Sonter - October 6, 2020A Brisbane childcare centre is facing several charges after a string of alleged offences related to excursions, including taking the children outside the premises without parent’s written authorisation...
Federal Budget 2020: Labor to promise free childcare for low income earners
News.com.au - Samantha Maiden - October 7, 2020Labor leader Anthony Albanese is set to promise free childcare for low income earners and cheaper care for thousands of families in Thursday’s Budget-in-reply speech. In one of the biggest policy announcements since he secured the leadership after the 2019 election loss...
Morrison defends lack of childcare funding
The Canberra Times - Daniel McCulloch - October 7, 2020The prime minister has been forced to defend the lack of focus on child care in the federal budget. Child care barely rates a mention in the latest economic blueprint. Targetted funding for about 3000 providers in Victoria is being extended until January and parents across the rest...
Tax cuts are 'nice' but this family wants lower childcare costs
Financial Review - Sally Patten - October 7, 2020That said, tax cuts were not at the top of their wish list. Mrs O’Rourke, who contracts in adult education, would have liked more help with childcare costs, which would have made it worth her while financially to also pursue her original trade as a florist...
Budget 2020 is big, loud and splashy - but don't be fooled by the zeroes
ABC News - Annabel Crabb - October 6, 2020Why doesn't child care enter the equation? The childcare sector, first to lose JobKeeper, gets nothing (outside Victoria where federal assistance yet lives). It's extraordinary - and very indicative of what sort of work the Government thinks is worth encouraging and subsidising...
Why working class Aussies and families are both winners and losers in Federal Budget 2020
Herald Sun - Susie O’Brien - October 6, 2020This budget also has nothing to make childcare cheaper which would boost the employment levels of women and help family budgets. Current subsidies make it just about pointless for women to work a fourth or fifth day a week because of the money they lose to childcare fees...
Victorian child care help
Financial Review - Robert Bolton - October 6, 2020In other education initiatives Victoria's Early Childhood Education and Care sector will get $314.2 million to help it recover from the effects of COVID-19. And $296 million will be go to a new digital employment service to link job seekers to employers. Earlier this week the government...
Budget 2020 Winners and Losers: Who gains the most from biggest cash splash since WWII
Nine.com.au - October 6, 2020LOSERS - Childcare: The childcare sector, which remained one of – if not the only – sector to be excluded from JobKeeper, did not receive extra significant money in the budget. With parents returning to work, and kids to school, many expected there would be some announcement...
Townsville child care worker charged with rape of children, bestiality faces extra charges
Townsville Bulletin - Elisabeth Silvester - October 6, 2020A former Townsville child care worker who has been charged 104 charges of sickening offences against children has been mentioned in court. The 39-year-old Pimlico man who has been accused of the rape of children, bestiality involving dogs and the production of child porn...
Sorting 'red flags' from run-of-the-mill chaos at a childcare centre
ABC Life - Grace Jennings-Edquist - October 5, 2020When Sofia's* son was two, she decided to pull him out of his childcare centre. She'd harboured niggling concerns about the centre's level of care for more than a year. The educators often forgot to apply sunscreen when the kids played outside on sunny days. "Or I'd go to pick my son up ...
Montessori, Steiner or Reggio Emilia: which childcare philosophy is best for your family?
The Conversation - Nadia Wilson-Ali, Marianne Knaus - Edith Cowan University - October 5, 2020Up to 90% of brain development occurs in the first five years of life. Early learning matters, and creates a solid foundation for future development. Philosophical underpinnings in early education matter too. They influence the interactions between teachers and children, the environment...
Students in country Victoria return to classrooms after more than two months of remote learning
Herald Sun - Ashley Argoon and Susie O'Brien - October 5, 2020More than 142,000 country students are returning to school as their city counterparts are urged to start getting ready now for their classroom comeback. Prep to Grade 6 pupils in regional areas will on Monday return to physical classes, with those in country P-12 schools to follow ...
Australia's 'no jab, no pay' rule has little effect on anti-vaxxer parents – study
The Guardian - Melissa Davey - October 5, 2020Australia’s “no jab, no pay” policy has been associated with a drop in the number of children catching up on their first dose of the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, suggesting the policy has had little impact on those who reject vaccination science. However, the policy ...
This is unlikely to be a budget for Australia's working mums
Financial Review - Miranda Stewart - October 5, 2020The highest tax rates in the system are borne by women with children when they seek to return to work or increase their work hours. A mother earning $45,000 a year, with a partner on $55,000, faces effective tax rates of more than 90 per cent on moving from two days to three, four or ...
Bendigo leaders say 2020's coronavirus budget a chance to address gender inequity
Bendigo Advertiser - Elspeth Kernebone - October 5, 2020Bendigo leaders have called for budget measures which support women, as many female-dominated industries suffer the worst fallout from the COVID-19 crisis. Women's Health Loddon Mallee executive officer Tricia Currie said the budget presented a unique opportunity...
