Child Care News
NSW childcare fraudster denied bail
9News.com.au - May 31, 2017A NSW childcare director jailed over more than $3.6 million worth of fraudulently obtained federal government payments has been denied bail pending an appeal. Former Albury resident Melissa Jade Higgins fraudulently charged families a "ridiculous" $180 an hour, or around $9000 a week, at...
How much do we expect of grandparents when it comes to raising kids?
SBS - Nicola McCaskill - May 29, 2017The rising cost and lack of accessibility to child care is driving more and more parents to turn to their children's grandparents to ease the burden. Grandparents are now the most popular form of child care in Australia, putting in up to 50 hours a week of work – almost always unpaid. Many...
Daycare operators busted over $200m welfare fraud
The Australian - Simon Benson - May 30, 2017Almost 6000 family daycare providers have been caught in a government sting that is expected to uncover $200 million in undeclared childcare fees and illegal welfare claims by operators. An expansion of the government's welfare data-matching program to detect welfare fraud and overpayments...
Gold Coast childcare operator says China expansion not worthwhile
Gold Coast Bulletin - Alister Thomson - May 30, 2017GOLD Coast childcare provider G8 Education has dumped plans to expand into the Chinese market. The decision comes after Hong Kong-based CFCG Investment Partners International (Australia) (CIPI) failed to complete a deal to purchase a $212.8 million stake in the childcare operator at a premium...
G8's Chris Scott, the childcare guru walks away with not a share in the world
Sydney Morning Herlad - Colin Kruger - May 29, 2017He created a billion-dollar childcare empire but will probably walk away without a single share to his name. This is the curious story we are meant to believe about the driving force behind the creation of G8 Education, Chris Scott, who will step down as an executive director of the group after this...
Childcare workers vote to walk off the job
Sydney Morning Herald - Nick Toscano - May 27, 2017Children will be sent home early from childcare centres in coming months, with thousands from the sector's female-dominated workforce voting to walk out in protest against the large pay gap between men and women. In a recent ballot, more than 3000 early childhood educators overwhelmingly...
Federal budget 2017: we forgot the most important question: why do we spend public money?
Sydney Morning Herald - Simon Cowan - May 27, 2017Payments such as childcare support, paid parental leave and even support for university students all have objectives well beyond alleviating poverty. The benefits are often vague and the justification flimsy or misleading. The glib rationale for these payments is that they all generate a benefit to the...
My daughter''s preschool just said they will accept bitcoins for tuition -- I think that''s a terrible idea
Business Insider Australia - Sara Silverstein - May 27, 2017The rest of my daughter's preschool tuition is due on June 1st. I just got a message from the school informing me that they are pleased to announce that they will now be accepting bitcoins for tuition payments. It's a really interesting time to be getting this email given that the value of a bitcoin has...
NSW woman jailed for $3.6m childcare fraud
Nine.com.au - May 26, 2017A NSW childcare director who bought a pool, expensive car and house with $3.6 million-worth of fraudulently obtained federal government payments has been sentenced to at least four years in jail. But lawyers for Melissa Jade Higgins, who was convicted of 81 offences in November, has already filed...
Councils slam move to allow private schools to become developers
Sydney Morning Herald - Lisa Visentin - May 25, 2017NSW's private schools may soon be able to build classrooms, childcare centres, gymnasiums and lecture theatres as high as 22 metres on their grounds under a fast-track development process, which critics say lacks transparency and accountability. The proposal is part of a suite of reforms...
City of Casey changes priority system for kinder allocation, angering parents
Herald Sun - Megan Bailey - May 25, 2017PARENTS are up in arms over a new kindergarten place allocation system that gives priority to children from refugee backgrounds and other minority groups. The City of Casey announced the changes on its website and Facebook page yesterday, citing Department of Education and Training...
G8 Education taps investors for $100m
Sydney Morning Herald - Carolyn Cummins - May 24, 2017G8 Education is tapping investors for $100 million through a fully underwritten institutional placement to fund growth opportunities and reduce debt on the same day the company's long-time boss Chris Scott has announced his retirement. In a trading update, the childcare centre owner also said it has...
Adam Goodes kicks goals for Indigenous literacy: 'This is a basic human right'
The Guardian - Naaman Zhou - May 23, 2017The former Australian of the Year Adam Goodes is "sickened" that Indigenous children are three times more likely to fail minimum literacy and numeracy tests than non-Indigenous children. The former Sydney Swans footballer has labelled low literacy rates among Indigenous youth "unacceptable" and...
Kool Kids founder to build 'world-first' 8-floor medical childcare centre at Southport
Gold Coast Bulletin - May 24, 2017A COLOURFUL world-first development that combines medical services and childcare will be the first post-Commonwealth Games project built at the Gold Coast's Health and Knowledge Precinct. The eight-storey Centre of Growth is an initiative of Kool Kids founder Bruce Coulson, whose family is funding...
UBS, Ord Minnett prepare investors for G8 Education raising
Financial Review - Sarah Thompson, Anthony Macdonald & Joyce Moullakis - May 23, 2017G8 Education will be cap in hand in front of fund managers on Tuesday morning, seeking to plug an equity hole left by its strategic Chinese investor. Street Talk understands the childcare centre owner has lined up stockbrokers UBS and Ord Minnett to oversee an institutional placement, which is...
