Child Care News
Fewer parents are using flexible work arrangements, data shows
Canberra Times - Andrew Brown - April 28, 2018Fewer mothers are using flexible work arrangements to care for their children compared to a decade ago, new data reveals. Newly-released figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show since 2008, the number of employed female parents using arrangements such as part-time...
Parents say immunisation rates a major factor in choosing a school
Sydney Morning Herald - Pallavi Singhal- April 28, 2018When Jac Taylor began the hunt for a school for her daughter Saskia Jones, who had just turned four, she was shocked to find vaccination rates well below the national average at many Sydney schools. "You're not allowed to go to daycare without being fully immunised but it amazed...
Vaccination is used as political opportunism': experts
Crikey.com.au - Emily Watkins - April 27, 2018Last month, Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews fired off a couple of tweets, based on a screen grab of a Facebook comment, suggesting pictures of crying babies on news stories about vaccinations are "straight from the anti-vax playbook". Andrews said images of babies crying with...
The best paid jobs for men and women, but mind the gap
The Canberra Times - Nigel Gladstone - April 27, 2018"Australia has a very gender-segregated occupational mix, where most women work with women and most men work with men." Australia is more segregated than other similar economies with roles such as nurse, childcare worker, primary school teacher and aged care worker...
The US$225 billion a year Australia could benefit from with a focus on women
Women's Agenda - Angela Priestly - April 26, 2018Unfortunately, there are a number of significant structural impediments standing in the way. One being the expensive and inflexible nature of childcare, and another being the continued burden of unpaid work that women take on. There's also the gender pay gap, creating more incentive...
Save family tax breaks, says John Howard
The Australian - Adam Creighton - April 26, 2018John Howard has blasted claims family tax benefits are "middle-class welfare" as a "very convenient pejorative slogan", arguing Labor and Coalition governments have been wrong to cut the $19 billion-a-year payments to families with children. Mr Howard, prime minister...
Female employment could boost economy more than corporate tax cuts
Financial Review - Aaron Patrick - April 25, 2018McKinsey has three suggestions to keep women in work: provide tax incentives to work rather than look after children; provide more flexible jobs; change social attitudes that regard women as the primary carer. More than half the forecast economic boost would come from...
Fears families will struggle after changes to childcare rebates
Yahoo News - April 24, 2018The number of families receiving childcare rebates will soon change when the system is overhauled across the country...
Families slugged for 'phantom' childcare on public holidays
The Courier Mail - Matthew Killoran - April 24, 2018FAMILIES and taxpayers are being slugged hundreds of millions of dollars for "phantom" childcare services on public holidays when most centres are closed. The non-existent services have cost the nation $120 million in the past month alone. The common practice of charging...
Talking Point: Early years are the critical ones in education
The Mercury - Becky Shelley - April 24, 2018There is value in enhancing the experiences and outcomes of children in the early years. The reasons are well documented. We know that from pre-pregnancy until the age of four, a lasting difference can be made to help children's development and wellbeing. Advances in...
THE HERALD'S OPINION: Faith and flexibility in our region's childcare
Newcastle Herald - April 23, 2018CHILDCARE may be the hidden backbone of the modern Australian workforce. Parents must weigh up its price against a day's wages, and if that balance tips, it becomes unfeasible for them. Subsequently, the sector can help decide who does and doesn't front up for jobs...
Bogus businesses pocket $31.5m under the Berejiklian government's Smart and Skilled scheme
Daily Telegraph - Kylar Loussikian - April 23, 2018DOZENS of dodgy training outfits including nail salons and daycare centres are having their state government contracts torn up for failing to actually train people. The Daily Telegraph can reveal bogus businesses pocketed $31.5 million of public cash in three years before being...
Delay to childcare fire regulation update 'jeopardising kids' lives'
The Courier Mail - Daryl Passmore - April 22, 2018BUREAUCRATS are gambling with children's lives by delaying tough new laws to reduce the risk of fires in multi-storey childcare centres, Queensland Public Works Minister Mick de Brenni says. He will this week demand building regulation bosses fast-track changes to the national...
Big Fat Smile bucking childcare trend with more males on staff
Illawarra Mercury - Agron Latifi - April 22, 2018In fact the organisation is bucking the trend, with an early education and care workforce that has more than 40 per cent more male educators than the national average.Seven per cent of Big Fat Smile's staff are men. The 2016 census data reveals that female educators represent 95...
Children so busy with organised activities outside school they have no time to play
Daily Telegraph - Bruce McDougall - April 21, 2018And while research reveals organised activities can help youngsters do better in class, alarmed experts also say a lack of idle time can damage development. Children as young as four are being enrolled in extra-curriculums programs such as swimming, dance...
