Child Care News
Council childcare centre fees to increase in the inner west
The Daily Telegraph - David Barwell - June 20, 2018PARENTS with children in daycare could see their childcare bills rise again from July due to centres having to put on extra staff. Council-run facilities in Canada Bay will have daily fee increases of almost 8 per cent from next month to meet the latest changes to the National Quality...
NSW budget: Children get arts and preschool handouts
The New Daily - Rachel Eddie - June 19, 2018New South Wales children will be offered a $100 bonus to attend arts and language classes, as the state government expands preschool subsidies to three-year-olds. Treasurer Dominic Perrottet handed down the 2018-19 budget on Tuesday, declaring it was "building for today...
TAFE 'perilously close' to collapse: union
9News.com.au - June 19, 2018But the Australian Education Union believes training for plumbers, nurses, childcare staff and others is under threat because there's not enough federal government funding. They claim enrolments have "declined alarmingly" over the last four years. "Government funding cuts have left...
G8 Education in good position to make serious bid for Affinity: CEO
Financial Review - Simon Evans - June 19, 2018Australia's largest for-profit childcare centre operator, G8 Education, is part-way through a strategic review of the 23 brands it operates across 500 centres and may prune that back to three or four, as chief executive Gary Carroll also said there were strong synergies...
NSW budget: Families big winners with free preschool for 3yos as surplus hits $3.9 billion
ABC News - Brigid Glanville - June 19, 2018In a $200 million giveaway, NSW will become the first state to pay for three-year-olds to go to preschool. Currently only four-years-olds are subsidised for preschool. The preschool funding is the latest in a flurry of packages announced that are aimed at families. These include...
Gareth Parker: The radical proposal to make child care tax deductible
Perth Now - Gareth Parker - June 18, 2018In an opinion column in The Australian last week, lawyer Kate Ashmor offered a bolder suggestion - make child care tax deductible. On radio, she explained: "Parents put their kids in child care to go to work, so it's a work-related expense. "It will allow the great cohort of women...
Kids need some romper room
Perth Now - Josh Zimmerman - June 18, 2018DEVELOPMENTAL outcomes for kids are taking a hit as they are progressively exposed to formal teaching at the expense of playtime at younger ages. While the traditional three Rs - reading, writing and 'rithmetic - are important, a fourth, romping around, is just as critical for children under...
State government grant ensures Minimbah Preschool can do their part in Aboriginal language revival
The Armidale Express - Meg Francis - June 18, 2018Minimbah Preschool has joined the state-wide movement aiming to preserve and revive Aboriginal languages, and is starting with some of the city's youngest. The early childhood learning facility secured a $30,000 grant from the state government, which will be used to educate....
Medibank Private named Australia's best workplace for dads
Financial Review - Patrick Durkin - June 18, 2018Medibank Private has been crowned Australia''s best workplace for fathers after giving all employees - whether mums or dads - 14 weeks of paid parental leave within two years of their child''s birth. The landmark policy, which was introduced by CEO Craig Drummond only in March...
ACT govt nets $2m selling contaminated site for child care centre
Canberra Times - Steven Trask - June 18, 2018Contamination from toxic chemicals was discovered at the former Charnwood fire station before the ACT government netted $2 million by re-zoning the land and selling it to become a child care centre. Planning documents provided to Fairfax Media showed the Health Directorate...
Queensland Government to tackle after school care shortage
The Courier Mail - Lauren Martyn-Jones - June 16, 2018Education Minister Grace Grace has established a new working group to deal with mounting concerns about long after school care waitlists, which will meet for the first time later this month. The situation has become so bad, newly elected Greens MP Michael Berkman told Parliament...
Everyone except the government knows childcare isn't predictable
Sydney Morning Herald - Eryk Bagshaw - June 17, 2018Under sweeping child-care subsidy changes to come in from July 2, casual workers will need to predict their hours three months before their rosters come out - they can update them at any time - but some won't, leaving them with a debt to the Commonwealth when the Tax Office...
WA Govt not likely to ban pools at family daycare centres
Perth Now - Kate Campbell - June 17, 2018THE WA Government looks likely to ignore a key recommendation from the Coroner to immediately ban pools, spas and other water hazards at family daycare centres in the wake of the tragic drowning of toddler Lachlan Mitchell. In her inquest findings published on Friday...
Quadrant eyes 20pc growth with Junior Adventures after-school care buyout
Financial Review - Simon Evans - June 17, 2018The No.2 player in the after-school care market in Australia is eyeing another year of 20 per cent-plus revenue growth from its operations at 400 school sites, with private equity firm Quadrant having taken majority control of the business through a $100 million-plus buyout. Sinead Ryan...
Work to barely pay for returning mothers even after budget changes, Senate inquiry told
Sydney Morning Herald - Peter Martin - June 17, 2018The third and final stage of the government's proposed income tax cuts would overwhelmingly benefit men, late evidence presented to the Senate inquiry shows. The inquiry will report on Monday that calculations prepared by the Parliamentary Budget Office show 1.894 million men...