Child Care News
Childcare deregulation will help plummeting birth rates
The Cairns Post - Julian Tomlinson - January 4, 2018Childcare then presents a new issue and another one the government has too much control over. Liberal Democrats Senator David Leyonhjelm drew a storm of criticism last year when he said " … you don't need a Certificate III and 18 months of study to be a childcare worker to wipe...
IEU taking big steps toward teacher pay equity
Coffs Harbour Advocate - Greg White - January 4, 2018EVIDENCE and submissions to support the pay equity claim for early childhood teachers has been lodged by the Independent Education Union (IEU). This is the latest step in the case that has been running before the Fair Work Commission since 2013 with the union seeking pay rises...
'Don't want much for $25/hr do you?': Ad for after-school nanny lists duties including dog walking
News.com.au - Frank Chung - January 4, 2108Employees working as nannies and au pairs are not covered by an award, according to the Fair Work Ombudsman. They are entitled to the national minimum wage - $22.86 an hour for casual workers - and national employment standards. Whether nannies and au pairs working...
Oversupply of childcare centres in southeast Queensland will lead to glut
The Courier-Mail - Emmaline Stigwood - January 2, 2017DEVELOPERS of new childcare centres should have to prove there is local need before getting approval as a glut of places is driving down quality and pushing up fees in southeast Queensland. Inner-Brisbane suburbs and pockets of the Gold Coast, Ipswich and Sunshine Coast are...
New laws coming into effect from January 1 to impact families statewide
Daily Telegraph - Louise Starkey - January 1, 2018Parents will have access to a New Child Care Package from July 2, which will replace the existing Child Care Benefit and Child Care Rebate. The Child Care Subsidy (CCS), which will be supported by the Child Care Safety Net to give the most vulnerable children a strong start, was designed...
Childcare fees could rise if educators succeed in pay claim
Yahoo 7 News - December 30, 2017Childcare centre operators are warning fees will go up if teachers are successful in their huge pay claim. Education professionals are asking for a 59 per cent wage rise to match the salaries of other professions that also require four year university degrees. Almost all childcare...
Editorial: Childcare workers unsung heroes in working parents' lives
The Courier Mail - December 30, 2017EVERY family who uses childcare has experienced how the industry's workers so often go above and beyond the call of duty to care for our kids. Episodes of lunches forgotten, clothes missing, being caught in traffic doing the pick-up or enduring cranky kids during the drop-off have occurred...
'Stressed' daycare staff demand pay on par with engineers
Daily Telegraph - Natasha Bita - December 29, 2017THE "noisy, dangerous and stressful" work of taking care of kids has prompted day-care teachers to demand a 59 per cent pay rise, to match the salaries of engineers. The Independent Education Union has asked the Fair Work Commission to grant six-figure salaries to early childhood...
Religion is no excuse for anti-vax nonsense
Perth Now - Peter Kurti - December 28, 2017ATTEMPTS by anti-vax campaigners to invoke religion as a way of dodging vaccinations for their children is an excellent example of the limits the state rightly puts on religious freedom. Claims by the Australian Vaccination Skeptics Network (AVN) that some vaccines contain...
The changes shaking up your household budget in 2018
News.com.au - Fiona Willan - December 28, 2017From next year, the government's new childcare package kicks in, with an additional $2.5 billion in funding to be rolled out from July. But families will need to get prepared before then. Education Minister Simon Birmingham said the government would start getting in touch with parents...
Childcare centre fined $16k after girl, 4, left on hot bus
The West Australian - Liam Croy - December 28, 2017A Karratha childcare centre has been fined $16,000 for leaving a four-year-old girl to bake on a bus on a 30C day. Stripy Zebras Junior Education Centre received the penalty last month after it was referred to the State Administrative Tribunal for disciplinary action. The girl was rescued...
Vaccines contain products of abortion, Australian Vaccination Skeptics Network claims
Yahoo News - December 28, 2017An anti-vaccination group say parents that choose not to vaccinate their children should receive government funding, claiming some vaccines are derived from aborted babies. The Australian Vaccination Skeptics Network (AVN) told a federal parliamentary inquiry into religious freedom...
How are we doing on early childhood education and care? Good, but there's more to do
The Conversation - Susan Irvine - December 26, 2017Overall, we've seen huge improvements, particularly for children aged three to five years. The priority now is a universal approach to quality education and care for our youngest children. In 2007, the Rudd Government committed to a series of significant early childhood reforms...
Dapto childcare worker changing attitudes about male educators
Illawarra Mercury - Agron Latifi - December 22, 2017Only about five per cent of early childhood educators are male and Mr Stewart could sense some initial trepidation from parents during his first work placement. "Overcoming that I just came to realise that they were just unaware of what benefits males bring to the sector," he said...
Vic parents lose appeal to stop vaccines
9News.com.au - December 22, 2017A Victorian mother has lost a legal bid to stop her three children from receiving vaccinations for measles. The mother went to the Victorian Supreme Court to challenge a Children's Court order for her three children to be immunised while in the temporary care of the Department of Health and Human...
