Child Care News

Coronavirus: What is and isn’t open during statewide shutdowns
The Australian - Adeshola Ore and Lachlan Moffet Gray - March 23, 2020

The Education Minister said he would introduce legislation today to ensure they remain open and economically viable. Dan Tehan flagged that the government would help families with the cost of childcare and help centres pay their staff during the COVID-19 outbreak...

Tehan confirms support measures to help operator viability during COVID-19 shock
The Sector - Freya Lucas - March 23, 2020

Dan Tehan, Federal Minister of Education has confirmed new measures designed to support early childhood education and care (ECEC) services to remain viable and pay staff during enforced COVID-19 closures, should they occur, and help families with the cost of care going forward...

Impact of COVID-19 (coronavirus) Pandemic - Mayfield Childcare Ltd
Australian Financial Review - March 23, 2020

To date, Mayfield has not experienced any significant financial impact as a result of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. The management team responded quickly, ahead of Government advice, to implement stringent health & hygiene procedures, including centre access restrictions...

Childcare rules to be relaxed to help families
The Sydney Morning Herald - Angus Livingston - March 23, 2020

Families won’t be penalised if their children miss childcare days and businesses in the sector that close because of the coronavirus will still get federal subsidies to ensure they can reopen. Education Minister Dan Tehan says it's up to state authorities to decide if childcare centres will remain open...

Scott Morrison throws out a $66bn lifeline and says there’s more help to come
The Australian - Patrick Commins and Richard Ferguson - March 23, 2020

Education Minister Dan Tehan said the reforms would help about 1.3 million families who have children in childcare. “We are making changes to ensure Australian families will continue to receive financial support through the childcare subsidy if their children can’t attend childcare because of COVID-19,” ...

Victorian schools will close and childcare centres have rigid rules eased
Herald Sun - Ashley Argoon - March 23, 2020

Victoria’s schools will shut en masse for the first time since World War II in a bid to fight the coronavirus pandemic. At this stage, childcare and kindergarten services will continue but that may be subject to change. Families and workers that rely on childcare will be given relief under a ...

New South Wales reaches more than 500 cases of COVID-19 with 97 new infections
ABC News - Sarah Thomas - March 23, 2020

New South Wales has now recorded in excess of 500 cases of COVID-19, with 97 new cases confirmed in the 24 hours to 8:00pm on Saturday. A childcare worker is also among the latest confirmed cases. The employee worked at Smeaton Grange Young Academics Child Care Centre...

Coronavirus infects after-school care worker at Helensvale after-school care program
ABC News - George Roberts and Holly Richardson - March 22, 2020

A worker at an after-school care program on the Gold Coast has tested positive for coronavirus, forcing all students to self-isolate for a fortnight. Helensvale State Primary School has written a letter to parents saying the employee of YMCA Helensvale returned the positive result...

Coronavirus Australia: medical certificate needed for childcare subsidy if children kept home
The Guardian - Michael McGowan - March 20, 2020

The federal government says parents will still be able to access childcare subsidies if they decide to keep their children home as a result of the coronavirus outbreak, but only if they have a medical certificate. The prime minister, Scott Morrison, has said that schools and childcare ...

Coronavirus pandemic forces childcare centres to adopt new hygiene rules amid shutdown fears
ABC News - Eliza Borrello - March 19, 2020

As they soaped their hands and rinsed them in warm water, children at the Pachamama Early Education and Childcare Centre in the Perth Hills sang several verses of the Happy Birthday song with gusto. Children all over the world are being taught to sing the tune twice...

COVID 19: Greens call for child care subsidy ‘activity test’ to be scrapped
Mirage News - March 19, 2020

Australian Greens Senator and Education spokesperson Dr Mehreen Faruqi has called on the federal government to scrap the Activity Test for the Child Care Subsidy immediately. In light of the ongoing COVID-19 public health crisis, it is critical that families continue to receive subsidised...

Wahroonga childcare centre closes as child undergoes coronavirus testing
9 News - Chanel Zagon - March 19, 2020

A Sydney childcare centre has closed while one of its attendees undergoes testing for coronavirus. In a letter to parents obtained by 9news.com.au, the Guardian Childcare and Education Centre in Wahroonga, on the city's upper north shore, yesterday revealed the child ...

Learning From Home website created in VIC with resources to support ECEC closures
The Sector - Freya Lucas - March 19, 2020

A new website, Learning From Home, has been developed in response to the COVID-19 outbreak Victorian Education Minister James Merlino announced late yesterday. The website offers suggestions about contingency planning, giving the following suggestions about planning...

Here's a bright idea should schools have to close: enlist childcare workers as nannies for health workers
The Conversation - Danielle Wood, Nathan Blane - March 18, 2020

If Australia's childcare centres are closed, more than 125,000 trained childcare workers, all with appropriate vetting, will not be working. The casual staff, in particular, will see their incomes dry up. Our proposal is to redeploy childcare workers as nannies for the health care professionals who do not have alternative childcare support...

If we’re keeping school & childcare open, teachers & educators need our thanks
Women's Agenda - Lisa Bryant - March 19, 2020

Teachers and educators seem to be the missing voices in the debate about whether schools and our early education and care (childcare) services remain open or closed. But something else is missing. Thanks from anyone for this – largely female – workforce. The Prime Minister...