Child Care News
Free iPad offers luring parents to profit driven childcare
Queensland Times - October 30, 2017CHILDCARE operators are luring parents by offering free iPads and digital tablets if they enrol their children. The gimmick exposes the lengths the for-profit component of the sector is going to win over mums and dads trying to cope with working and…
Eleven Canberra childcare providers were in breach of national standards
Brisbane Times - Emily Barker - October 29, 2017Ten Canberra childcare centres and a family daycare provider investigated by authorities were found in breach of national standards for issues including poor staffing arrangements and allegedly harming or losing children. Nineteen of the 51 complaints investigated by the Education...
Authorities are urging vaccination as whooping cough cases soar to five-year high
News.com.au Ben Crouch - October 27, 2017WHOOPING cough cases have hit a five year high, prompting reminders for parents of babies and young children to ensure they are vaccinated. There have been 1447 cases of whooping cough, also called pertussis, notified this year to date, around 160 more cases than at the same time...
Industry shake-up highlights gaps in key areas forcing up costs
Courier Mail - Emmaline Stigwood - October 27, 2017QUEENSLAND has the second lowest rate of degree-qualified early childhood teachers in the country leading to a shortage of quality staff in regional areas but also metro pockets where childcare staff can't afford to live. About 12.5 per cent of key contact staff at approved childcare and kindy services...
Combining child care and aged care benefits both ends of the age spectrum
ABC News - Jodie van de Wetering - October 26. 2017A central Queensland project is giving young children and seniors the chance to come together to play, learn and make friends - with a similar program in the USA showing it can benefit both ends of the age spectrum. The partnership between North Rockhampton's Elfin House community child care...
Childcare costs: Government says reforms will fix 'broken' system
The Daily Telegraph - Claire Bickers - October 25, 2017AUSTRALIAN families are paying almost $3300 more per year for childcare than five years ago, with new figures showing prices continue to rise. The latest Education Department figures show mums and dads were paying on average about $11,329 for childcare in 2016. That's a dramatic jump...
Top broker thinks G8 Education Ltd shares are worth $5.10
Motley Fool - October 25, 2017Although the G8 Education Ltd (ASX: GEM) share price has risen an impressive 22% during the last three months, one leading broker believes that it can still keep climbing higher. According to a note out of Ord Minnett this morning, the broker has retained its buy rating on the childcare centre operator...
Pushy parents need to grow up over child care
The Daily Telegraph - Natasha Bita - October 25, 2017PUSHY parents expect childcare centres to teach their toddlers for future school success but most kids just want to play with their friends. A national survey of kindy kids' attitudes to childcare reveals they prefer playing with friends outdoors, or doing "art and craft", to using technology ...
Crackdown on dodgy daycare providers saving taxpayers almost $1.8b
Herald Sun - Rob Harris - October 24, 2017DOZENS of dodgy daycare providers have been shut down after being caught rorting taxpayers' money in a crackdown that has saved Australians almost $1.8 billion over the past four years. The Herald Sun can reveal almost 70 Victorian family daycare providers have been cancelled...
Childcare the key policy change for women leaders
Financial Review - Georgina Dent - October 24, 2017But there are factors outside the scope of individual companies that influence the ability of women to work which, in turn, either helps or hinders them in reaching leadership positions. "Childcare, childcare, childcare," the minister for women, Senator Michaelia Cash, says when asked which...
Why we need to get high-income women back to work: the case for tax deductible childcare
Brisbane Times - Nassim Khadem - October 24, 2017If Australia's childcare system was more affordable and accessible and the tax system stopped penalising women who return to work, more women would work. They also may have children sooner. In nations where women have more support to work, such Scandinavian countries...
What kids and parents really want from early-childhood education
ABC Radio National - October 23, 2017The funding and availability of early childhood education centres remains a contentious issue. But what do kids think about their days in these centres? A new survey reveals insights into what kids like most about daycare, what they enjoy doing and what makes their days hard...
New childcare subsidy puts focus on working parents
Sydney Morning Herald - Caitlin Fitzsimmons - October 22, 2017From July 2, 2018, the government is abolishing the Child Care Rebate and Child Care Benefit. The two payments will be replaced with a single payment, the Child Care Subsidy. The government is billing this as a boost to childcare and with some justification since total federal spending on...
Townsville kindergarten closed over mouldy mattresses, smacking of special needs child
ABC News - Isobel Roe - October 22, 2017Authorities have temporarily shut down a north Queensland kindergarten following a string of breaches including mouldy mattresses, dangerous play areas and a failure to properly report the smacking of a special needs child. Busy Kids Kindergarten and Child Care in Townsville...
Childcare centre deals tip $300m
Sydney Morning Herald - Nicole Lindsay - October 21, 2017A gold rush on childcare centres is building with investors lured by the promise of long 20-year lease terms in a market underpinned by government subsidies. Almost $300 million worth of childcare centres changed hands in the year to June 2017, a threefold increase on the previous year...
