Child Care News
Screens banishing kids' imaginary friends
The Advertiser - Alison Kershaw, Press Association - August 26, 2019Pre-school workers say imaginary friends are becoming less common, with too much screen time affecting children's imaginations. A British poll indicates that almost three in four childcare workers think fewer children have imaginary friends now than five years ago. Almost two thirds...
South Australia reforms Education Act, giving new protections to preschool staff
The Sector - Freya Lucas - August 26, 2019The South Australian Department for Education has announced that the Education and Children’s Services Act 2019 will replace the Education Act 1972 and the Children’s Services Act 1985. The new Act will come into operation during 2020, and includes a number of changes relevant to...
G8 shares plummet 14pc on earnings change
Financial Review - Tim Boyd - August 26, 2019A solid interim result for child care services provider G8 Education was marred by revised lower full-year earnings guidance because of strong supply competition resulting in a slower ramp up of new centre earnings. G8 reported underlying earnings before income and tax of $51.6 million for the six months ended June 30, which was in line with consensus forecasts...
Big rise in government-controlled prices shows pollies have much to do
The Age - Ross Gittins - August 25, 2019As if Scott Morrison didn''t have enough problems on his plate, we learnt last week that government-administered prices are rising much faster than prices charged by the private sector... childcare by 27 per cent...The cost of childcare has been rising over the years because governments...
Teaching in children's first languages boosts learning
Brisbane Times - Naomi Fillmore - August 25, 2019I recently had the pleasure of sitting in on a Pitjantjatjara language class in an Indigenous school in the APY Lands of South Australia. The children, having just returned from outside play, initially seemed unsettled. Yet from the moment the Indigenous educator began teaching in her native tongue...
How much you're paying for childcare by suburb
The Courier Mail - Jessica Marszalek and Cloe Read - August 24, 2019Queensland parents have been stung with some of the highest childcare price rises in the country, with fees skyrocketing by up to 22 per cent in just 12 months. And it''s families in the regions who have felt the brunt as 29 of the top 40 spots were taken out by the state''s towns and suburbs...
Childcare cost hike eats into subsidy
The West Australian - Jackson Lavell-Lee, Busselton Dunsborough Times - August 23, 2019Families living in Busselton and Margaret River were hit with a 13 per cent annual hike in childcare centre fees last financial year — the biggest rise in WA. The price hike meant parents were potentially paying more despite the new Federal Government Child Care Subsidy. One year after the Government’s...
Plans for new Geelong childcare centres before council
The Daily Telegraph - Tamara McDonald - August 23, 2019Childcare operators are seeking to capitalise on Geelong’s growth, with several planning permit applications before council. It comes after four new centres in Armstrong Creek were approved by City of Greater Geelong in 2018. There are currently three planning permit applications for childcare centres...
Childcare pay rise ‘threat to our existence’
The Australian - Ewin Hannan - August 23, 2019Pay rises of up to 45 per cent for university-educated preschool teachers could be funded by “minor” increases in daily childcare fees, their union says, disputing employer claims that the big wage increases would result in fee hikes. In its closing submission to a long-running case...
Western Victoria has second best vaccination rate, according to Department of Health data
Herald Sun - Tamara McDonald, Geelong Advertiser - August 23, 2019Western Victoria is leading the nation for childhood immunisation rates, new data reveals. Figures released by the federal Department of Health show the Western Victoria Primary Health Network leads Australia for vaccination in kids aged 12 to 15 months and 24 to 27 months.
Child care centre plans lodged for old milk bar site in Meadow Heights
Herald Sun - Jack Paynter, Hume Leader - August 23, 2019The site of an old Meadow Heights milk bar could be transformed into a new child care centre, if the proposal wins council approval. A development application has been lodged with Hume Council for a two-storey day care building on the corner of Baker Court and Eldorado Cres...
Think updates on incubator proposal as it moves to alleviate related party concerns
The Sector - Jason Roberts - August 22, 2019Think Childcare (TNK), having recently announced the creation of a new “in house” incubator which was to be initially seeded with centres via two separate transactions, has confirmed that one of the transactions has been recast to eliminate related party transaction concerns...
Gender discrimination driving pay gap between Australian men and women, report finds
ABC News - Peter Ryan - August 22, 2019Rising gender discrimination is now the single biggest factor in driving a pay wedge between men and women. Research by the advisory firm KPMG has found that "stubborn gender stereotypes" continue to harm the careers of women especially those who opt to care for children...
Funding unlocks a future for Kempsey child care service
The Macleay Argus - August 22, 2019A Kempsey child care service that was staring at a bleak funding future has been thrown a lifeline by the Federal Government. Kempsey In Home Care faced closure when State funding guidelines changed, which would have made continued shift work difficult for those families using the service...
Tasmanian child care centres making improvements following Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority ratings
The Mercury - Jessica Howard - August 21, 2019Four Tasmanian child care centres have improved their standards to meet national requirements in the past seven weeks. Earlier this week, it was revealed about one in four were failing to meet all the national standards for quality care. The latest report, published by the Australian...
