Child Care News
Kindy cull: Funding cut to WA community kindergartens without 16 students
Perth Now - Tony Barrass - March 25, 2018The McGowan Government will cut funding to all community kindergartens if they can't get 16 toddlers into their classrooms next year. The move has infuriated numerous close-knit communities, with the State School Teachers' Union joining the Opposition to attack Labor over the...
Toddler Leah Bancks loves 'Beddy' doll that looks 'just like her'
News.com.au - Jackie Sinnerton - March 24, 2018The lookalike dolls are flying off the shelves, bought not just by parents, but by childcare centres keen to teach children about diversity and acceptance. "I wanted Leah to feel a connection and identify with the doll. It's important for her to feel pride and confidence in who she is, as there are...
Paul Keating: Is this really the robot future we have to have?
The Courier Mail - Michael Madigan - March 23, 2018Artificial intelligence, with its genius for making humans redundant, will swallow up employment not merely in call centres but in aged care homes, restaurants, child care centres, transport companies and retail outlets. While that's hardly news, Keating says the fallout for Australia's...
Chinese Mandarin popular in Early Learning Languages Australia
The Daily Telegraph - Steven Deare - March 23, 2018CHILDREN as young as three are learning how to say much more than "ni hao" in Mandarin through a foreign language program at preschools. Children at Meadowbank Multipurpose Learning Centre are among the latest to join the Early Learning Languages Australia (ELLA) program...
Childcare business: 10 years after ABC Learning collapse, investors are piling into a heated industry
The Courier Mail - Liam Walsh - March 23, 2018JULIA Davison is sitting at ground zero of Australia's worst childcare collapse, bemused about why private investors are now plunging back into the sector. "Goodness knows!" Davison says. She's the chief executive officer of not-for-profit childcare outfit GoodStart, which rose from the ashes...
Low-paid 'women's work': why early childhood educators are walking out
The Conversation - Susan Irvine, Karen Thorpe and Paula McDonald - March 23, 2018Australia's early childhood educators, including those working in community and private childcare centres, will walk off the job on March 27 to demand better pay. Some centres will be closed for the whole day and parents will be asked to keep their children at home. This scale of action will no doubt...
Childcare strike threatens change of plans for thousands of families
The Daily Telegraph - Clarissa Bye - March 23, 2018NSW risks grinding to halt on Tuesday as thousands of families scramble to arrange care for their children while childcare workers strike for better pay. An "unprecedented" number of the state's 5000 childcare centres are expected to close, with parents asked to make other arrangements...
Brisbane residents force developer to address heritage concerns for childcare centre
The Courier Mail - Ellen-Maree Elliot - March 23, 2018SINNAMON Farm's would-be developers have met with the community after thousands of people signed petitions objecting to a childcare centre at the historic homestead. Avondale was established in the late 19th century by the Sinnamon family, which gave its name to Sinnamon Park...
Government email sparks job loss fears at family day care centres
Central Western Daily - David Fitzsimons - March 22, 2018An error in a government letter sparked fears 11 educators and 140 children would lose their positions at family day care centres in Orange, Blayney and Molong. The coordinators of Cabonne/Blayney Family Daycare, which has centres in Orange, reacted with shock when they received...
Vaccination rates in the Hunter and Central Coast
Newcastle Herald - Damon Cronshaw - March 22, 2018Immunisation rates for five-year-olds in the Hunter and Central Coast regions have hit 95.7 per cent, new health data shows. This figure was a rise of almost two per cent in four years. The number of fully immunised one-year-olds rose from 93.1 per cent to 95.5 per cent over this period, which...
Anti-vaccination Facebook group shows parents plotting to stop children getting lifesaving vaccines
The Advertiser - Tory Shepherd - March 22, 2018ANTI-vaxxers are forming potentially deadly clusters in Adelaide childcare centres. The Advertiser has seen private Facebook discussions, in anticipation of state "no jab no play" legislation, where parents discuss where to send their unvaccinated children. They are swapping information on...
Goverment outsourcing a boon for service providers
The Australian - March 22, 2018Koczkar cites not-for-profit childcare provider Goodstart and for-profit disability platform Hireup as good examples of companies providing innovative solutions under the new funding models and expected more entrepreneurs to enter the sector. But companies would be advised to think carefully...
Land and Environment Court rejects childcare centre plans at Chatham Estate
The Daily Telegraph - David Barwell - March 22, 2018PLANS to turn a historic Abbotsford home with links to the former Nestle chocolate factory into an 80-space childcare centre have been knocked back by the Land and Environment Court. Developers Otium Capital lodged the appeal after its proposal to adapt the Chatham Estate at...
Facts dent ACTU campaign for workplace rights
Financial Review - David Marin-Guzman - March 21, 2018A fresh union push for laws to combat "rising" insecure work are based on flawed claims, with economists saying casualisation has remained stable for the past two decades while labour hire and the gig economy make up less than 1 per cent of the workforce. In a major speech on Wednesday...
Sally McManus says enterprise bargaining is 'smothering' wage growth
The Guardian - Paul Karp - March 21, 2018She argued in some industries, such as childcare, it was not practical to bargain for separate pay deals. "The only way for those workers to have the power they need is to band together beyond a small childcare centre." McManus also said bargaining should occur "without restrictions" such as bans...
