Child Care News
'We're Not Babysitters': Childcare Workers Demand Better Pay
Ten News - Lachlan Kennedy - July 26, 2018At the centre of its claim is that early childhood teachers are paid on average $15,000 per annum less than primary school teachers - despite requiring the same accreditation and university qualifications. After nearly a decade in the industry, the disparity can blow out to $30,000 per annum...
Childcare shake-up neglects family day care workers, so we must learn from garment workers' experience
The Conversation - Vidhula Venugopal, Annie Delaney & Yee-Fui Ng - July 26, 2018Often forgotten in the middle of all these changes are the childcare workers themselves, known as “educators”. In particular, family day care educators have been conspicuously absent in discussions...
An important role': Early childhood teachers fight for pay parity
Sydney Morning Herald - Jordan Baker - July 26, 2018On Thursday, early childhood teachers will begin making their case for a pay rise that would bring them into line with primary school teachers. Over the next month, the Independent Education Union of Australia (IEUA) will argue to the Fair Work Commission that they earn less than their primary...
Opinion: Daycare teachers' pay demands are ludicrous
The Courier Mail - Kylie Lang - July 26, 2018IN what lifetime is a childcare worker on par with a male engineer? People who look after other people's kids are valuable in a society where increasingly both parents trot off to work, but should they be paid as much as men who design bridges and robots? No way. Yes, early childhood teachers...
Daycare teachers call for $32,000 wage rise
The Courier Mail - Natasha Bita - July 26, 2018DAYCARE teachers are demanding a $32,000 pay rise, despite childcare costs soaring three times faster than inflation in the past year. If the pay demand is accepted parents will face up to $6 a day per child in extra costs. Childcare fees rose an average of 6.5 per cent across Brisbane during 2017...
ASIC complaint over potential childcare deals
Financial Review - Simon Evans - July 25, 2018A complaint has been made to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission alleging that shareholders in dual-listed childcare group Evolve Education may be being kept in the dark about the potential for a buyout proposal by Australian childcare business Affinity Education...
TasWeekend: Centres providing a family of friends
The Mercury - Tracy Rankin - July 22, 2018Wendy is just one of hundreds of parents being helped every day by passionate staff in Tasmania's 12 government-funded Child and Family Centres, facilities designed to improve the poor educational outcomes for children who come from the state's lowest socio-economic...
Chasing work-life balance
Sydney Morning Herald - Sue White - July 22, 2018The overwhelming majority (75 per cent) of those accessing flexible work did so due to child care responsibilities, but a respectable 17 per cent cited lifestyle as the driver. So why now? Goldman believes there are three key reasons for the shift. First, flexibility is a "huge enabler"...
Need for homework on childcare centres
Gold Coast Bulletin - Alister Thomson - July 22, 2018"If you go back 12 or 18 months ago, you would put a childcare centre on the market and buyers would fight over it because they were viewed as low risk." He said that situation had changed due to an oversupply in certain areas. "The asset class is fine, childcare centres are still attractive...
Free play a 'lost opportunity' for young kids
Sunday Herald Sun - Susie O'Brien - July 21, 2018FREE unstructured play is a waste of time for kids and babies, an Australian educator says. The "free-choice, open-ended play with no rules" that dominates childcare and kindergartens was a missed opportunity for crucial learning, according to Shiaoling Lim, the managing...
Part-time work up, but there's been a drop in number of women working full-time
Women's Agenda - Bianca Hertage-Hazelman - July 21, 2018What the data shows is that we need to see more support by way of affordable childcare to help women continue to work full-time, if they would like or need to do so. It will be interesting to see if the federal government's new childcare regime will give a boost to the number...
Plans for three new childcare centres before City of Greater Geelong
Geelong Advertiser - Jemma Ryan - July 19, 2018PLANS for three new childcare centres across the region are currently before the City of Greater Geelong, as the demand for services continues to climb. The facilities - proposed for Waurn Ponds, Norlane and Bell Park - will provide a combined 367 new positions for children requiring care...
Childcare subsidy program teething problems a pain for parents
The Courier Mail - Matthew Killoran - July 19, 2018THOUSANDS of parents have been left out of pocket in the first week of the new childcare subsidy program. Some providers say families and their staff are stressed trying to figure out why payments aren't working, but others say the bugs are being worked out. Issues include delays of up to 28 days in Centrelink in processing...
Toy guns survey an example of political correctness gone too far
Central Western Daily - Denis Gregory - July 18, 2018What's happening to kids today? Are they being ‘sanitised' by the politically-correct do-gooders who want them brought up in cotton wool? What's wrong with playing in the dirt or snacking on a mud pie? Why is it confrontational to have school work corrected in red ink? Or playing cops and robbers with toy guns?...
Preschool children learn languages through Early Learning Languages Australia
Camden Courier - July 18, 2018Camden Haven preschool children will again have an exciting opportunity to learn another language this year using play-based mobile tablet apps. Federal Member for Lyne Dr David Gillespie visited St Joseph's Early Childhood Services in Laurieton on Wednesday, July 18...
