Child Care News

G8 Education Ltd shares just hit a two-year high
Motley Fool - October 20, 2017

It was another day of gains for the G8 Education Ltd (ASX: GEM) share price on Friday. The childcare centre operator's shares rose almost 1% to reach a two-year high of $4.41. This brought its year-to-date return to an impressive 22%. Why have its shares been on a strong run this year?...

Few women can walk over equal pay: Labor's promise to elevate pay gap as 'matter of priority' is welcome
Women's Agenda - Angela Priestley - October 20, 2017

It gave its first "equal pay order" in 2012, following an application from the community services sector that was years in the making. A similar case involving childcare workers has already taken four years, demonstrating just how slow and complicated the system currently is....

Kids go to day care rather than relatives
SBS - October 19, 2017

Australian kids are increasingly attending day care instead of being looked after by relatives, a national report card has found. Nearly half (or 1.8 million) of Australian children aged between 0 and 12 attended formal or informal care in 2014. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare has confirmed...

Victoria nears childhood herd immunity target
AJP.com.au - Megan Haggan - October 16, 2017

Victoria has hit a figure just shy of 95% of five year olds fully immunised, which the Andrews State Government says supports its vaccination policies. The Victorian Government has announced it is boosting its Immunity for Community campaign. Latest figures from the Australian...

Unknown strain of meningococcal claims the life of a child in Darwin, Northern Territory Health Department confirms
NT News - Craig Dunlop - October 16, 2017

A CHILD has died in Darwin after contracting an unknown strain of meningococcal disease. A health department spokeswoman confirmed the child, whose age and gender was not made public, was enrolled at a childcare centre in the greater Darwin area.Centre for Disease Control...

Avenues Early Learning centres on the block
Financial Review - Matthew Cranston - October 12, 2017

Avenues Early Learning is selling a portfolio of childcare centres in Brisbane that could fetch as much as $102 million and provide a crucial indicator for the demand and values of childcare centres in Australia. With pressure on operators from government funding and living costs the asset class is being...

Childcare cost blowout creating 'perfect storm'
My Business - Adam Zuchetti - October 12, 2017

Soaring childcare costs are damaging the ability of SMEs to grow, with some Australian parents spending more on childcare than their take-home earnings. "The perfect storm is brewing with more and more families facing the difficult decision of whether or not both parents can afford to work...

Paid parental leave: six months of paid leave opens up options for mums and dads
ABC News - Clare Negus - October 12, 2017

Australian employers are increasingly moving away from traditional maternity leave policies and instead offering six months of paid parental leave for the "primary carer". The gender-neutral policies are intended to create options for families - fathers can take time off work as the primary carer...

Is G8 Education Ltd still a dividend darling?
Motley Fool - Sean O'Neil - October 11, 2017

It's like a horse race – in the Blue we have up-and-comer G8 Education Ltd (ASX: GEM) and in the Red we have ageing nag Telstra Corporation Ltd (ASX: TLS). Both are, or were, favourites among income seeking investors for their huge dividends, historically above 6% at recent share prices...

Are greedy developers and landlords gouging childcare parents?
ABC News - Lisa Bryant - October 11, 2017

Property developers and landlords are inflating the cost of childcare and condemning children to spending their childhoods in crappy environments. And worse? They're getting government support to do it. Increasingly, whacking up a childcare centre is looking like a good option...

City childcare operators hit back at claims of undersupply
The Chronicle - Matthew Newton - October 11, 2017

TOOWOOMBA childcare operators have hit back at claims of a large undersupply in the number of childcare places available in the city. Australian Childcare Solutions claimed in recent development application for a new childcare centre at 24A-28 James Street there was a shortfall...

Fears of hepatitis A infection at Brighton childcare centre
Brisbane Times - Melissa Cunningham - October 11, 2017

Families at a Brighton childcare centre face an anxious wait after a staff member contracted hepatitis A overseas and potentially passed the virus on to children. About 30 staff and up to 45 children at the Bambini Early Learning Centre in Brighton East have been deemed at risk of...

Project Sydney: Childcare, hospitals needed to cope with 1.2m people population boom
News.com.au - Matthew Benns & Natasha Bita - October 9, 2017

Exclusive modelling reveals the "shopping list" of social services needed to meet demand - more than half of it in Western Sydney. Sydney will need 500 new childcare centres, 70 hospitals and 1750 GPs, according to the PwC research. "We are building to accommodate the population...

I live with my boss: What life is really like as a live-in nanny
Domain - Brigid Blackney - October 9, 2017

During her 14-year career as a nanny she's lived with five of the families she's worked for, resulting in a very different kind of working relationship than most people are used to. "It's only just occurred to me how few jobs there are where you see your boss in their Peter...

Deadly flu season should mean vaccines for all health workers
Sydney Morning Herald - Robert Booy and Sue Rodger-Withers - October 8, 2017

The Turnbull government has responded rapidly, announcing a push to mandate influenza vaccination among aged-care workers, a move strongly supported by peak groups, including National Seniors Australia and COTA Australia. And the case is compelling. But, logically...