WA languishes close to foot of childcare league
The West Australian - Angela Pownall and Shannon Hampton - March 16, 2016Only one in five children goes to a childcare service in WA, giving the State one of the lowest participation rates in the country. The statistic has raised fears that many WA children are missing out on the social, developmental and educational benefits of early childhood care. In its Report on...
Offshore money targets childcare centres
Sydney Morning Herald - Simon Johanson - March 15, 2016Competition for childcare centres has intensified as a Chinese investor pays $6.82 million, more than $400,000 over the reserve, for a Camberwell centre in Melbourne's eastern suburbs. Local institutional and non-profit organisation investors have long focused on the sector. However, offshore...
Bill Shorten says Labor spend would be different, not larger
Financial Review - Laura Tingle - March 15, 2016"We are not in the business of just increasing the size of government per se. So that's why we have been making choices about what we spend taxpayer dollars on," he said. "This country's spending more money supporting a few people negatively gearing their properties than we are spending on childcare...
Imagine childcare spending paying for itself
The Australian - Judith Sloan - March 15, 2016Jobs for Families uses one of the most defective reports issued by the Productivity Commission, Childcare and Early Childhood Learning, to make the case for an additional spend of $4.4 billion over the forward estimates. At present, annual government spending on childcare is more than $7bn...
Families face long wait lists for child care
The West Australian - Angela Pownalland Shannon Hampton - March 15, 2016Families are facing waits of up to two years to get child care in some Perth suburbs and one in three of the city's long daycare centres is booked out. The situation raises questions about how WA's childcare sector will cope when the Federal Government launches its single-subsidy system next year...
Thousands at risk of unfairly losing welfare benefits because of "no jab no pay"
Sydney Morning Herald - Julia Medew - March 14, 2016Thousands of Australians are at risk of having their welfare payments unfairly slashed because of inaccuracies in Australia's immunisation register, which is being used to process the Turnbull government's new "no jab, no pay" rules, health care workers say. There are also fears that children are...
Folkestone Education Trust 1H 2016 results
Finance News Network - March 14, 2016Transcription of Finance News Network Interview with Folkestone Education Trust (ASX:FET) CEO, Nick Anagnostou
Kids' safety at risk amid childcare funding squeeze
The Australian - Natasha Bita - March 14, 2016Childcare inspectors have cut back on spot safety checks as state governments demand more federal funding to regulate the booming daycare sector. Queensland Education Minister Kate Jones yesterday said childcare centres that were inspected three times a year in 2010 were now being checked...
Establishing sleep patterns early in life key to avoiding future problems
Brisbane Times - Dan Seed - March 13, 2016Research published in 2015 led by QUT researcher Dr Sally Stanton showed mandatory naptimes at daycare centres had the potential to cause issues as children transitioned to school. "I do believe there is a role for these daycare and early learning centres to support parents around developing...
Claims boy sexually abused up to 15 children at South Australian kindy, but incident was 'ignored'
The Advertiser - Meagan Dillon - March 13, 2016A MOTHER whose young son was sexually abused by another boy at a South Australian kindergarten has slammed the Education Department's handling of the matter, saying it was swept under the carpet. The woman - who cannot be named to protect the identity of her child - said her son...
Plan to lower Tasmanian school age facing opposition from early learning sector
ABC News - Peta Carlyon - March 11, 2016A plan to lower the compulsory school age to four and a half has been cautiously welcomed by industry bodies but faces stiff opposition from the early learning sector. Parents have also spoken out against the plan with some worried younger children will be left behind. As the mother of two...
Why the double dissolution? A long and painful list of failed legislation
Sydney Morning Herald - Fergus Hunter - March 10, 2016Childcare package and family tax benefit cuts: A $3 billion childcare package was at the centre of the 2015 budget but has seen little activity as changes to family tax benefits - which the government insists are needed to fund the package - fail to attract support in the Senate. The family tax...
Researchers test intergenerational model of respite care
Community Care Review - Jackie Keast - March 10, 2016A formal program to bring together the young and old may offer an attractive alternative model of respite care. Jackie Keast reports. Researchers from Griffith University are exploring an intergenerational care model that would see respite care united with child care, harnessing the benefits of...
Your guide to choosing childcare
Women's Weekly - Marie Claire Dorking and Carmel Sparke - March 10, 2016Planning on joining the ranks of the more than 726,000 Australian families who use approved child care? The best thing you can do is to get in early. In fact, it's worth putting on your thinking cap as soon as you know you''re pregnant. Places are often in high demand, and waiting lists of two years...
Unions fear earlier school age in Tasmania will overload system
ABC News - Tamara Glumac - March 10, 2016United Voice, the union representing childcare workers, also has concerns. "Children aren't ready to be going to school at such an early age, we will also see less ability to focus and really succeed at school," Tasmanian branch secretary Jannette Armstrong said. "It is contrary to much of the more recent..."