Child Care News

Budget cannot rely on construction alone to boost economy
Sydney Morning Herald - Elizabeth Hill - September 28, 2020

Opinion: Pre-budget speculation points to a big focus on "shovel-ready" construction projects, but these will not deliver maximum jobs and will exacerbate gender inequality. We need a more balanced approach to stimulus that includes serious investment in social infrastructure...

Melbourne's coronavirus restrictions roadmap has changed. Here's what's happening with the curfew, exercise, childcare, schools, gatherings and more
ABC News - Leonie Thorne - September 27, 2020

Childcare for all children and school returning early: Melburnians will no longer require a permit for childcare, and the 5-kilometre limit will not apply; One childminder or babysitter will be allowed for in-home childcare; All primary school children will return to on-site learning from October 12...

Primary schools to re-open as infection rates among children revealed
Herald Sun - Grant McArthur - September 27, 2020

Primary school students will return to Melbourne classrooms in a fortnight, however the majority of high school pupils face further weeks of remote learning. Melbourne parents are also celebrating as childcare centres are reopened to all children from today. Students from prep to grade six...

Edmonton Community Kindergarten petitions to stop development of new centre across the road
Cairns Post - Toby Vue - September 25, 2020

A long-running daycare centre south of Cairns has launched a petition against a proposed centre just 45 metres down the road, arguing that the suburb has an oversupply of such services. Citicare Cairns in mid-June submitted a development application to Cairns Regional Council ...

Easing of NSW health restrictions for weddings, schools welcomed
Financial Review - Finbar O'Mallan - September 24, 2020

Revival of school activities: Interschool sports, school camps and formals will all be able to go ahead in term four. Mr Johnson said this would help holiday parks across NSW that relied on big school groups. Thursday's announcement included allowing one parent to attend ...

Fast food, service station, childcare centre defy auction blues
Financial Review - Larry Schlesinger - September 24, 2020

Private investors brushed aside economic worries and pandemic uncertainty to bid fiercely for a portfolio of "essential services" investments, with 11 of 13 properties – or 85 per cent – selling under the hammer. The offering of fast food outlets, childcare centres, petrol stations, a bank ...

Historic police barracks and new childcare site damaged by blaze
Brisbane Times - Matt Dennien - September 24, 2020

Investigators are still working to find the cause of a fire that ripped through a historic police barracks and child care centre construction site in Brisbane's north overnight. About 40 firefighters were eventually called to the site on Enoggera Road in Newmarket to find the buildings engulfed...

Childcare centre allegedly exposed child to risk during excursion
The Courier Mail - Kara Sonter, Caboolture Shire Herald - September 24, 2020

A childcare centre is facing several charges after a string of alleged offences related to excursions near Caboolture. A Guppy’s Early Learning Centre is accused of failing to ensure a risk assessment was properly carried out before an excursion on or about May 21, 2019...

Waverley College Waterford Preschool to close as Woollahra Preschool expands
The Daily Telegraph - Emily Macdonald - September 24, 2020

Waverley College is closing a beloved preschool which has operated for more than half a century as Woollahra Council instead expands its preschool space making way for an additional 40 families. Waterford Preschool at Waverley College will close at the end of the year...

'Baby bonus not back': MPs want childcare and tax benefits instead
WA Today - Jennifer Duke - September 22, 2020

A baby bonus to offset a plummeting fertility rate is unlikely to be on the cards despite warnings of 280,000 fewer births by 2024, as a disparate group of MPs and senators recommend a re-examination of family tax benefits, cheaper childcare and extra economic stimulus instead...

Baby slump: Australian newborn deficit to hit budget bottom line
The Sydney Morning Herald - Shane Wright - September 22, 2020

Australia is facing a deficit of 280,000 babies by 2024 due to the recession and unrealistic pre-coronavirus forecasts of a birth surge that threatens to leave a permanent hole in the federal budget. In a fresh challenge for Treasurer Josh Frydenberg new analysis of Australia's fertility rate...

ACT Labor to roll out free early learning for three-year-olds, as Canberra Liberals plan new mental health facilities
ABC News - Tom Lowrey - September 21, 2020

ACT Labor has laid out a timeline to deliver on its long-held goal of providing free early learning for three-year-olds. It intends to deliver one day per week of care to all of the city's three-year-olds by 2024, six years after first making the commitment. Childcare centres and preschools...

Early Childhood Package Provides No Long-term Certainty
Mirage News - The Australian Greens MPs - September 21, 2020

Australian Greens Education spokesperson Senator Mehreen Faruqi has said that the latest Child Care Recovery Package, announced today, is yet another band-aid which does little to heal the wound. A long-term plan is needed for this essential service. Senator Faruqi said...

Recovery package for Victorian families and childcare is welcome but not enough
Women's Agenda - Tarla Lambert - September 21, 2020

Federal Education Minister, Dan Tehan announced a recovery package over the weekend, aimed at alleviating pressure on parents looking to rejoin the workforce and better support early childhood educators crippled by the state’s second wave lockdown. The $305.6 million package...

Australia has sleepwalked into a society where profit trumps quality care
The Guardian - Opinion: Emma Dawson - September 21, 2020

The outbreak of Covid-19 in Victorian aged care homes has shone a harsh light on the conditions in which low-paid workers struggle to provide care to some of the most vulnerable people in society. Most of these workers are women – as are those in disability care and childcare...