Child Care News

Blueberries Childcare Centre at Southport suddenly forced to close
Gold Coast Bulletin - Sally Coates - October 26, 2018

Blueberries Childcare Centre, which was taken over by Hyun Mee Shin in June this year, suddenly shut due to "industrial unrest", with Ms Shin saying it prevented her from being able to comply with "regulatory requirements for staffing"?. Ms Shin said a number of staff had called in sick...

VCAT determines "lack of need" not relevant in overturning rejected childcare centre proposal
The Sector - Lyndsie Clark - October 25, 2018

VCAT's statements are particularly interesting to note in the current early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector climate, with peak bodies such as the Australian Childcare Alliance (ACA) warning that oversupply could lead to unnecessary pressures on ECEC providers. In a statement...

Child (4) severely burnt and another with autism walks home in series of childcare breaches across Perth
Western Suburbs Weekly - David Johns - October 25, 2018

A FOUR-year-old boy was severely burnt while making play dough and an autistic child walked home unnoticed in a string of enforcement actions for childcare centres across Perth. Five notices of enforcement actions for Perth-based childcare centres were published online...

Childcare centre proposed for Brisbane's tallest tower
Brisbane Times - Ruth McCosker - October 25, 2018

A childcare centre has been proposed to be built within Brisbane's tallest residential tower. Skytower is a 274-metre-high tower at 222 Margaret Street that will house more than 1100 apartments. On Monday, Brisbane City Council received a development application for a childcare centre...

Childcare centre closure leaves 70 families stranded as research points to regional policy failure
ABC News - Peta Doherty - October 24, 2018

City-based families may be benefiting from a glut in the childcare sector, but the closure of just one centre in a regional area can bring a town to its knees. Naomi Benson was forced to drive more than 1,000 kilometres a week to access care when the largest centre in Cooma, at the foot...

WorkSafe launches WA childcare inspection program
The Sector - Lyndsie Clark - October 24, 2018

WorkSafe is conducting a proactive inspection program to look at safety issues in Western Australia's government and private childcare centres in metropolitan and regional areas. The program will continue until the end of the 2018-19 financial year. WorkSafe Director...

Investors steer clear of G8 childcare centres...again
Financial Review - Larry Schlesinger - October 24, 2018

Investors steered clear of the troubled childcare sector at a commercial property auction in Melbourne on Wednesday. Childcare centres in Epping in Melbourne's north and in Wodonga leased and operated by ASX-listed G8 failed to sell under the hammer at a Burgess Rawson...

Developers ARR Property win VCAT appeal for childcare centre at Grovedale
Geelong Advertiser - Shane Fowles - October 24, 2018

"Despite the number of objections and the petition, I am not persuaded this is indicative of a significant social effect," she said. Ms Carew found no compelling traffic or parking issues, and said an argued lack of need for a child care centre in the area was not grounds for refusing a permit...

Tighter lending for commercial property could put a ceiling on prices
Financial Review - Su-Lin Tan - October 23, 2018

While cashed up and not having to borrow to invest, she was only watching and not investing further at this stage, and particularly not in childcare centres or retail properties, which are experiencing trading headwinds. Another investor, George Katsenos, bought his first childcare property...

Former Macquarie banker Robin Crawford fused business with social purpose
Financial Review - Michael Trail - October 23, 2018

After a question from The Australian Financial Review in August 2012 on why he established Goodstart, Crawford simply responded: "Kids, especially in the lower socio-economic slice, were hitting the school gate with a deficit they didn't have to have. I found that outrageous. So I got involved...

NDIS rort accused has ties to 'daycare fraud'
The Australian - Rick Morton and Tessa Akerman - October 22, 2018

A man accused of stealing more than $480,000 from the National Disability Insurance Scheme has links with a company that had its family daycare taxpayer subsidies cut off last year for obtaining payments "by fraud", according to a government register. Mohamed Osman Omar...

These ASX shares just hit 52-week lows: Is this a buying opportunity?
The Motley Fool - James Mickleboro - October 22, 2018

The Think Childcare Ltd (ASX: TNK) share price dropped to a two and a half year low of $1.20 on Monday. Investors have been heading to the exits in their droves due to the impact that an oversupply of childcare centres has had on its performance and prospects. Unfortunately, I don't think...

Fight for more pay not child's play outside Dutton-linked childcare
Brisbane Times - Toby Crockford - October 23, 2018

Childcare workers demanding more pay and better working conditions have rallied outside a Brisbane centre operated by a company owned by Peter Dutton's wife. The protest was outside Camelia Avenue Childcare Centre in Everton Hills, in Mr Dutton's Dickson electorate...

Gold Coast childcare giant G8 Education refinances loans to tune of $550M to meet growth strategy
Gold Coast Bulletin - Alister Thomson - October 22, 2018

GOLD Coast childcare giant G8 Education has refinanced its debt - executing two agreements worth a combined $550 million. The existing facilities will be repaid and cancelled with the new loans comprising a senior facility of $450 million underwritten by a syndicate including...

Philanthropist Robin Crawford passes away
The Australian - Andrew White - October 21, 2018

Remembered by former colleagues as a remarkable deal-maker and "all around good guy", Mr Crawford was involved in establishing or helping to build a number of philanthropic enterprises, including not-for-profit childcare operator Goodstart Early Learning. In a posting on the venture's website, Goodstart said the foundation's emergence from out of the rubble of the collapsed ABC Learning, would not have happened without him...