Child Care News
Childcare giant predicts $250m hit to centre values
Financial Review - Liam Walsh - June 11, 2020G8 Education is wiping up to $250 million from the value of its childcare centres, raising questions about the impact of the coronavirus and whether the sector giant has overpaid for facilities. The impairment charge of between $230 million and $250 million was revealed on Thursday by ...
Should childcare in Victoria be free?
ABC - The Conversation Hour with Richelle Hunt and Warwick Long - June 11, 2020Free childcare has been a godsend for many parents during the coronavirus lockdowns, as they struggle to maintain employment. However the Government have announced that the free childcare scheme will end on July 12, saying it was a temporary measure. Could childcare in Victoria...
What families need to do ahead of June 30 to access childcare subsidies as the free childcare scheme ends
7news.com.au - Sarah Carson and Jenny Ky - June 11, 2020The coronavirus pandemic has been a time of great financial uncertainty for many. Millions are relying on Centrelink benefits, including JobSeeker payments and free childcare subsidies. And with tax time just under three weeks away, all those forms and receipts can seem overwhelming...
Discovery Early Learning Centre CEO Jo Walsh calls for federal government to offer free universal childcare
The Advocate - Sandy Powell - June 11, 2020Every Tasmanian child should have access to three free days of childcare per week from birth, the chief of a childcare organisation has said. Discovery Early Learning Centres CEO Jo Walsh said she was hoping the COVID-19 crisis would present the government with an opportunity to rethink...
‘Double whammy’: JobKeeper policy tripping up women twice
Yahoo Finance - Lucy Dean - June 11, 2020The Australian government’s decision to end the JobKeeper subsidy for childcare workers has been branded a “double whammy” for women, affecting both industry workers and mothers. The government announced it would end support for the sector on 20 July, citing a huge increase...
How the government shaped a blokey lockdown followed by a blokey recovery
SBS Insight - Chris Wallace - June 11, 2020Prime Minister Scott Morrison earns a six-figure income and lives in high-end, non-means-tested public housing with a stay-at-home spouse who cares for the family’s two school-aged children. He will never have experienced the childcare-related anxiety most parents of school-aged children do...
Liberal Senator Gerard Rennick hits out at parents who use childcare
news.com.au - Samantha Maiden - June 11, 2020Liberal Senator Gerard Rennick has sparked outrage by invoking Dorothy from the Wizard Of Oz to insist the best place for children is at home, not childcare. The Queensland Senator and former stay-at-home dad has called for children to remain in the family home with a parent...
Childcare centre closed after toddler contracts COVID-19
ABC News - June 11, 2020The Professor Lynn Corcoran Early Learning Centre in Parkville has been closed for 24 hours for cleaning after a toddler who attended the childcare centre contracted the virus. DHHS said the child was not showing symptoms while at the centre, but could have been infectious...
Kangaroo Island Children's Services recognises its childcare staff
The Islander - Stan Gorton - June 11, 2020The governing council of Kangaroo Island Children's Services recently recognised its childcare staff for their hard work through the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. New chairperson Deb Laver said the governing council wanted to show a small sign of its appreciation by sharing a few gifts...
Melissa Jade Higgins: Childcare rorter loses appeal on $3.6m scam
news.com.au - Candace Sutton - June 11, 2020Childcare rorter Melissa Jade Higgins lost her appeal against conviction for a “brazen” $3.6m government benefits scam after failing to argue that jurors who called her “a bogan” were racist. The NSW Court of Criminal Appeal rejected her bid today to overturn her conviction on 81 counts ...
Think Childcare responds to “Return to CCS” roadmap with trading update
The Sector - Jason Roberts - June 11, 2020Think Childcare Group, has released a trading update in the wake of confirmation from Federal Education Minister, Dan Tehan of the roadmap for the early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector to move back to the Child Care Subsidy (CCS). Commenting on the Transition Payment...
Voices within and outside the ECEC sector express disappointment at CCS revert
The Sector - Freya Lucas - June 11, 2020A number of sources from within and outside the early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector have expressed their disappointment at the announcement earlier this week that JobKeeper payments for the sector will cease come 20 July, a week after the child care subsidy (CCS) ...
Almost 200 Australian childcare providers being investigated over Covid-19 funding rules
The Guardian - Daniel Hurst - June 11, 2020The education department is investigating more than 190 childcare providers in Australia over complaints that they may have breached funding rules during the temporary Covid-19 relief package. Guardian Australia can reveal these investigations were triggered after the department...
Why Australia has some of the highest child care costs in the world
The New Daily - Cait Kelly - June 11, 2020Australian parents pay almost four times as much as their international counterparts for child care, forcing parents out of the workforce and leaving children without a head start in learning. By international standards, Australia has one of the highest out-of-pocket child care costs in the world...
PM Scott Morrison backs move to cut childcare workers from JobKeeper scheme
9News.com.au - Luke Cooper - June 11, 2020Prime Minister Scott Morrison has backed his government's handling of the JobKeeper scheme and a decision to remove childcare workers from payments eligibility, saying the move will protect jobs. Mr Morrison was asked during Question Time today by Labor MP Amanda Rishworth...
