Child Care News
Victoria schools: how Covid-19 lockdown will affect education, remote learning and childcare
The Guardian - Hannah Ryan - August 3, 2020As Melbourne moves into stage four restrictions and regional Victoria to stage three, learning and childcare will look different throughout the state. Here are the new restrictions. From Thursday, Melbourne’s early childhood education and kindergarten services will mostly be closed...
PM approves $1500 pandemic payments, tweaks JobKeeper
Australian Financial Review - Phillip Coorey - August 3, 2020Victorians who still have a job but have run out of sick leave will be given $1500 pandemic disaster payments to stay home for two weeks if they are at risk of having contracted the coronavirus. The payments will be provided by the federal government to augment a state government scheme...
Victoria’s child-care shutdown is a hard blow for working mothers
The Conversation - Danielle Wood, Kate Griffiths, Owain Emslie - Grattan Institute - August 3, 2020How do you occupy a child for long enough to get any work done? This will be the question confronting more than 150,000 Melbourne families for at least the next six weeks. The Stage 4 restrictions announced by the Victorian government to contain the city’s COVID-19 outbreak...
Federal Gov Must Support Early Learning In Victoria
Mirage News - The Australian Greens MPs - August 3, 2020The Greens have said that the federal government must urgently support early learning and immediately provide relief for early childhood education and care in Victoria. Senator Mehreen Faruqi, Australian Greens Education spokesperson, said: “The current situation is untenable...
‘We are the Elders of tomorrow, hear our voice’ on National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Day
Mirage News - August 3, 2020As Australia celebrates National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Day, NACCHO Chair Donnella Mills states, “For decades, our Elders have shown great resolve and have sacrificed and fought for advancing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rights. Their efforts ...
Property developer says Griffith council 'failed' young families with childcare rejection
ABC News - Mollie Gorman, ABC Riverina - August 3, 2020A Sydney-based property developer has warned investors could steer clear of the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area, after the Griffith City Council rejected its application for a childcare centre. The area is considered to be one of the most diverse and productive regions in Australia...
Victoria to help foot the bill in state of disaster
Financial Review - Phillip Coorey and John Kehoe - August 3, 2020The Morrison government will require Victoria to help fund new income support measures, including paid pandemic leave, for the state's citizens after Premier Daniel Andrews declared a state of disaster and a night-time Melbourne curfew under harsh new restrictions for at least...
Fears children could fall through cracks as coronavirus cancels Kindergarten Health Check
Canberra Times - Sarah Lansdown - August 3, 2020A Canberra mother is urging parents to catch up on kindergarten health checks after her daughter was diagnosed with a condition which could have caused permanent blindness. When school went back after the remote learning period, Vanessa Mainwaring was told her daughter, Margot...
Dan Tehan signals willingness to “support as necessary” in wake of VIC lockdown
The Sector - Jason Roberts - August 3, 2020Federal Minister for Education Dan Tehan has signaled that the Federal Government is willing to step in and support sectors that have been impacted adversely by the step up to Stage 4 restrictions imposed on the 31 local government areas across Metropolitan Melbourne.
What do Melbourne's stage four and regional Victoria's stage three lockdown restrictions mean for you?
The Age - Mathew Dunckley and Kate Rose - August 2, 2020Victorians will face tougher restrictions on their movement under the state of disaster declared on Sunday. Childcare will be closed. There will be an exemption for vulnerable children and children of permitted workers. Education Minister James Merlino said: "That means for the first time in...
State's schools, childcare centres to close for most children
The Age - Adam Carey - August 2, 2020Students across Victoria will return to remote learning on Wednesday, with tighter exemptions for children of essential workers than the government imposed last lockdown. The limits on face-to-face teaching will be enforced across the state following a final day of on-site classes on Monday...
If the Treasurer wants people to have babies, he needs to work on his seduction routine
The Sydney Morning Herald - Jacqueline Maley - August 2, 2020Opinion: Last week, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg fronted the National Press Club to outline the government’s plan to support Australians through the crisis and beyond. Right up top, he acknowledged that “women have experienced higher job losses than men” and “young people have also ...
Coronavirus cluster fears at Merrylands childcare centre after community transmission case
7news.com.au - Alex Chapman - August 2, 2020There are fears a coronavirus cluster is brewing at a childcare centre in Western Sydney. A worker at Advanced Early Learning in Merrylands was diagnosed with coronavirus in the 24-hour reporting period prior to 8pm on Saturday. On Sunday morning, a second employee tested positive...
Latrobe City Council staff member from the Moe Early Learning Centre tests positive for COVID-19
Latrobe Valley Express - Staff Writers - August 2, 2020A Latrobe City Council staff member from the Moe Early Learning Centre has tested positive to COVID-19. The Department of Health and Human Services this morning confirmed the positive test. The Latrobe City Council said since being advised of the positive test on Sunday, management ...
Rocky Hall preschoolers journey to heart of fireground with Indigenous cultural educator
ABC News - Vanessa Milton - August 2, 2020In a small clearing on Myrtle Mountain, in South East Forests National Park, children from Rocky Hall preschool collect pieces of charcoal and charred leaves and examine the tentative signs of regeneration. Six months after the summer bushfires, green shoots are appearing...
