Child Care News
Out-of-pocket childcare costs rise Australia-wide, hurting Canberrans most
Canberra Times - Finbar O'Mallon - March 10, 2017Analysis from consultancy firm Hamilton Stone showed out-of-pocket childcare costs have risen over the past five years, disproportionately affecting lower-income families and leaving Canberrans paying more. Between 2011-16, Australian households earning under $55,000 a year...
Unpaid childcare is Australia's largest industry – it needs to be acknowledged
The Guardian - Fiona Smith - March 10, 2017Thorpe is a co-author of Understanding the Unpaid Economy, a study that attempts to quantify the value of unpaid work. The report values Australia's unpaid economy at $2.2tn. Childcare makes up the biggest proportion of unpaid work – 24.6% – and it has a replacement value of more than...
Call to cut childcare package from reform bill
The Australian - Joe Kelly - March 10, 2017A coalition of early education bodies and unions has called for the government's $1.6 billion childcare package to be stripped from its omnibus savings bill, amid claims the reforms will "pay for themselves". Goodstart Early Learning manager John Cherry said the workforce participation...
Childcare industry slams government's omnibus bill
Sydney Morning Herald - Eryk Bagshaw - March 9, 2017Childcare peak bodies, the key beneficiaries of $1.6 billion in funding under the government's omnibus bill, have slammed the government for tying its funding boost to savings from "vulnerable Australians". The sector, which has the most to gain from $4 billion in savings through the federal...
Mums: Get out of the house and into workforce
Herald Sun - Natasha Bita - March 9, 2017The release of the report coincides with a campaign by The Parenthood for the federal government to boost childcare subsidies. Despite promising higher subsidies in its last two federal budgets, the Turnbull government is refusing to increase them until the Senate stops blocking cuts to Family Tax Benefits...
As childcare workers walk off the job, research shows costs on the rise
The Canberra Times - Finbar O'Mallon - March 8, 2017Nearly 100 early childcare workers walked off the job in Canberra on Wednesday at 3:20pm as part of a national action over gender pay inequality and a lack of funding for the industry. The 3:20pm walk off on International Women's Day symbolised the time of day women in the industry, who...
Busy parents choosing long-day care over kindergarten
Herald Sun - Susie O'Brien - March 8, 2017TIME-POOR working parents are increasingly choosing long-day childcare over short-hour kindergartens for their preschool-aged children. The era of stand-alone community kinders operating just a few hours a week are over, as many parents turn to childcare centres because of the longer hours...
Unvaccinated children should be refused access to kinder and childcare, say parents
The Mercury - Jessica Howard - March 8, 2017CHILDREN who are not up to date with vaccinations should be refused access to kindergarten and childcare, say the majority of Tasmanian parents. The latest Australian Child Health Poll, released today, found one in six Australian children who are not up to date with their vaccines have been refused care...
What's a woman really worth? The $345b value of unpaid work to Australia's economy
Sydney Morning Herald - Nassim Khadem - March 8, 2017It found that if the total economy includes a conservative estimate of the value of unpaid childcare work then, in 2011 terms, it is a $345 billion sector, making it almost three times bigger than the financial and insurance sector. The report assumes there are 16 million people undertaking some amount...
The childcare worker who earns more cleaning the centre than looking after the kids
Brisbane Times - Jenna Price - March 7, 2017That's the reason Smith and early childhood educators all over Australia will walk off the job at 3.20pm on Wednesday, International Women's Day. Smith earns $26 an hour but many in the industry earn less, some as little as $20 an hour. Across a week, that's half the national wage, to care and love...
Health officials scramble to contain potential meningococcal outbreak at childcare centre
Brisbane Times - Toby Crockford - March 7, 2017Health officials are scrambling to contain a potential outbreak of meningococcal in a childcare centre north of Brisbane. Metro North Public Health Unit officers will visit the Bribie Island childcare centre on Wednesday after a young girl was confirmed to have the disease on Tuesday...
Xenophon negotiating deal on welfare cuts
SBS News - March 6, 2017Nick Xenophon is hopeful the stalemate over controversial changes to welfare payments and tied childcare reforms will be resolved within a fortnight. The crossbench senator says he and the Turnbull government are negotiating "in good faith" and will continue to until parliament returns on March 20...
Child care a 'financial cliff'
The West Australian - Sophia Constantine - March 6, 2017Federal Government projections show that by this month, about 36,000 families are expected to have reached their CCR cap for the financial year. This means they face being slugged with the full cost of child care - in some cases, up to $200 a day - for the remaining months. Figures from January...
Hundreds of childcare workers to strike
News.com.au - Rashida Yosufzai - March 5, 2017Hundreds of childcare workers across the country are set to walk off the job on International Women's Day to protest their pay rates, urging the Turnbull government to help. But one federal minister reckons the strike won't bode well with busy parents reliant on day care workers. Early childhood...
Instead of putting more money into schools, spend more on kid's education in early childhood, says PwC
Financial Review - Tim Dodd - March 5, 2017A boost to spending on early childhood education would be a cost efficient way to get better school outcomes for older children, according to consulting firm PwC. David Sacks, PwC's education lead partner, said he believed Australia's "really low" participation levels in early childhood education...
