Child Care News
At least eight Qld children aged under three have died from heat in vehicles since 2004
The Courier Mail - Antonia O'Flaherty - February 22, 2020Children are going missing at alarming rates in early education centres amid record-high numbers of serious incidents prompting warnings about child safety. And at least eight Queensland children aged under three have died from exposure to extreme heat in vehicles...
Childcare sector bounces back from 'glut'
Brisbane Times - Tim Boreham - February 21, 2020Childcare centre activity is recovering after a year in which deals and valuations were constrained by fears of an emerging glut in some geographies and teething troubles for the tweaked federal fee subsidy scheme. But while lenders are again willing to lend to the sector, tenants...
Child left on bus by Perth childcare centre
Wanneroo Times - Grelg Johnston - February 21, 2020A six-year-old child was left alone and unsupervised on a childcare centre’s bus after being picked up from a Perth primary school. On February 10 the centre was ordered, by the State Administrative Tribunal, to pay $10,000 to the Department of Communities and a further $1000 ...
Cairns boy found dead on childcare minibus two years after similar incident
News.com.au - February 21, 2020The three year old boy who was found dead on a daycare bus in Cairns this week was not the first child to be left on-board one of the company’s vehicles during a heatwave, it can be revealed. In the latest incident, the boy was found dead inside a blue Goodstart Early Learning vehicle...
UniSA conducts world first review of the importance of nature play
The Sector - Freya Lucas - February 20, 2020Researchers from the University of South Australia (UniSA) have conducted a world-first review of the importance of nature play which they believe could transform children’s play spaces, supporting investment in city and urban parks, while also delivering important opportunities for...
Active Kids program under pressure after money diverted to professional sports
Sydney Morning Herald - Lisa Visentin, February 20, 2020The Berejiklian government is facing a funding shortfall for its Active Kids voucher program, after it reallocated millions of dollars from the scheme's budget to fund professional sports. The voucher is one of the government's signature cost-of-living initiatives, with parents...
'Are you a man or a woman?' Drag queen used to kids' curly questions
Sydney Morning Herald - Josh Dye - February 20, 2020Conda has been doing story time in costume for kids at childcare centres and libraries for about three years and says she was one of the first drag queens to bring the phenomenon to Sydney. And this weekend during the Oxtravaganza festival in the lead up to Mardi Gras...
Police seize childcare passenger lists over boy’s death in van at Edmonton
The Australian - Charlie Peel, Angelica Snowden and Sarah Elks - February 19, 2020Detectives have seized passenger checklists from the Cairns childcare centre in whose van a three-year-old boy was found dead on Tuesday afternoon. The documents will be scrutinised for “accuracy” as part of the investigation into the death. The child had been picked up...
'Devastated' child care operator cancels bus services after three-year-old found dead
SBS - February 19, 2020A "devastated" childcare operator has cancelled its bus services across the country after a three-year-old boy was found dead in Queensland. His body was discovered by a driver at about 3.15pm on Tuesday in a Goodstart Early Learning minibus parked outside Hambledon...
TV hit offers inspiration for future of aged care – Anthony Albanese
The New Daily - Samanatha Maiden - February 19, 2020Anthony Albanese has called for the TV show Old People’s Home For 4-Year-Olds to be considered as part of the future of aged care in Australia under a plan to create ‘daycare’ for seniors. In a major speech in Brisbane on Wednesday, the Opposition Leader called...
‘Parent shaming’ is contributing to stress and mental anguish
The New Daily - February 19, 2020Parents are still being picked on for public breastfeeding and accessing childcare, as new research reveals almost half of Australian parents feel they have been “parent shamed”. Mums feel it the worst, and a lot of it happens online, the survey of 1000-plus parents further revealed...
Sunshine Coast Child Care Action Plan Released
My Coast Now - Kyle Christensen - February 18, 2020Significant research has been conducted into child care on the Sunshine Coast and the situation has been referred to as a “child care crisis.” One in five Sunshine Coast families are able to secure licensed child care, one in nine families are able to find child care for kids...
Three-year-old boy found dead by driver on childcare centre bus in Cairns
News.com.au - Sarah McPhee and Rohan Smith - February 19, 2020The head of the Queensland early learning centre where a three-year-old boy died yesterday says she is “absolutely devastated”. Mystery still surrounds the death of the young boy found dead on a minibus parked outside a school in Cairns. The devastating find was made on a...
Seven Hills child care plans progress at rundown shops site
The Daily Telegraph - Kate Lockley, Blacktown Advocate - February 18, 2020A rundown shopping strip in Seven Hills left idle for decades will get a new lease on life. The site at 32-38 Himalaya Cres was demolished this month to make way for a child care centre. Blacktown Council has approved plans from developer Sevens Developments to...
Australian investment in ECEC examined in latest Mitchell Institute paper
The Sector - Jason Roberts - February 17, 2020The Mitchell Institute has released a paper examining investment in the early childhood education and care (ECEC) in Australia as an advance chapter of an upcoming series on financial investment in the education sector. The report explores the amounts of government funding...
