Child Care News

5 Things Schools Should Know About Early-Years Education
Schools Week UK - Alison Peacock - July 14, 2018

Children get profound, long-lasting benefits from their earliest exposure to teaching, from academic and non-cognitive development to better health and careers later in life. Research also shows that their teachers' professional development is key, says Alison Peacock...

Demand for daycare grows at Sanctuary Point
South Coast Register - Rebecca Fist - July 13, 2018

Sanctuary Point is increasingly becoming a sanctuary for families, placing more demand on local child care services. For at least three years the books have been full and there has been a waiting list at Sanctuary Point Children's Centre...

Sydney grandparents cut back work hours to take up childcare duties
The Sydney Morning Herald - Pallavi Singhal - July 13, 2018

Grandparents in Sydney are cutting back their own working hours and taking up extra childcare duties to help families with the rising cost of daycare. Christine Moroney, 63, who lives in Berala, said she moved from full-time work as an audiologist to three days a week...

Breastfeeding V Formula in Childhood Obesity Debate
Mercury - Chris Pippos - July 14, 2018

INFANT formula and toddler milks are contributing to Australia's obesity epidemic, Breastfeeding Coalition Tasmania has warned a Canberra committee inquiry. The Hobart group says there is growing concern about the aggressive marketing of such products, adding they are often unnecessary and linked to overweight children...

Australia fines parents who don't vaccinate kids. Should Canada?
CTV News - Meredith MacLeod - July 12, 2018

The Australian government is jabbing deeper at the wallets of parents who don't vaccinate their children. The country already has a “No Jab, No Pay” policy but a tougher version took effect July 1. It cuts child benefit payments by AUD$28 every two weeks for each child who isn't immunized...

The program giving Indigenous families more power
Canberra Times - Katie Burgess - July 14, 2018

Aboriginal families at risk of losing their children are receiving extra help to keep their families together, under a pilot program introduced by the ACT government. Indigenous families now have the option of holding a group family conference with child protection workers when important decisions are made about their child's future...

Queensland govt defends 'pandemic leave'
Herald Sun - Stuart Layt - July 13, 2018

The policy, reported in The Courier-Mail, has been criticised by Queensland's Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which says government workers already have some of the best leave entitlements in the western world. 'It is worth reminding the Government, whose largesse is paid...

Public servants get extra month of sick leave if flu pandemic strikes
The Courier Mail - Natasha Bita - July 13, 2018

Bureaucrats will be able to use up to a month''s bonus leave to stay home on full pay if they can't get public transport to work, or if their child's school or daycare centre shuts down during a flu pandemic. "Where employees need to care for their children due to closure of schools or childcare...

Cheap G8 Education has childcare tyrekickers looking sideways
Financial Review - Sarah Thompson & Anthony Macdonald - July 13, 2018

As bankers and financial investors brush up on the Australian child care market, you have to wonder whether dealmaking activity will stretch beyond the up-for-sale Affinity Education. Because if Affinity Education's hopefuls looks sideways - and have deep enough pockets...

The IT glitch causing 'extreme financial hardship' as parents are forced to pay full price before they can claim Child Care Subsidy
Daily Mail - Bryant Hevesi - July 12, 2018

Furious parents have lashed out at a new system to claim the Child Care Subsidy after an IT glitch meant they had to shell out hundreds of extra dollars. The Centrelink Express app and online accounts went into meltdown last week, just as new changes to how the childcare rebate...

'I can't afford this': Parents slam new child care subsidy rollout.
MamaMia - Nama Winston - July 12, 2018

Questioning why there was a push from the government for family details to be updated so urgently when the software and administrative capabilities were not in place, it is no comfort to Amrita that she is not alone in her experience. Since July, 2, technical difficulties in the application of the rebate...

Up 550pc: Young rich lister's childcare app has a growth spurt
Sydney Morning Herald - Cara Waters - July 12, 2018

The government's sweeping reforms to childcare, which kicked off on July 1, have also boosted technology startup Xplor, which has raised $4.5 million to fuel its growth. "It has been a very, very busy and hectic ride", Xplor's founder and chief executive Mark Woodland told Fairfax Media...

Is this why country people are happier than us?
Courier Mail - Brendan O'Malley - July 11, 2018

It said development of units, childcare centres and other facilities was replacing spaces people once used to come together as a community. The problem was exacerbated when some groups were reluctant to share. "These buildings are now being converted for commercial ventures for things...

Childcare subsidy changes add red tape for families and providers
ABC News - Liam McNicholas - July 11, 2018

Last Monday, the Coalition Government's revised Child Care Subsidy came into effect. Now, services and families are realising that, far from cutting red tape, the new system could indeed be described as "drowning" in it. This probably comes as a shock to anyone who's listened...

Parents launch petition to save Sir Philip Baxter child care centre in Woollahra
The Daily Telegraph - Emily Macdonald - July 11, 2018

A petition has been prepared to send to Woollahra council to find a way to save the 40-year-old centre which is a bedrock of its community after the Benevolent Society suddenly announced last month it would sell the site and redistribute funds to other communities. The petition states...