Child Care News
Childcare shock as new data reveals children sent to hospital with injuries
Daily Telegraph - Natasha Bita - February 2, 2017MORE than a thousand Australian babies and toddlers are sent to hospital each year with injuries sustained in daycare, shocking new data shows. Confidential hospital statistics reveal 305 NSW children were among the 1076 under-5s hospitalised with injuries from accidents or deliberate harm...
WA Election 2017: Kindergarten for all WA four-year-olds under Liberals
Perth Now - February 2, 2017ALL four-year-old children in Western Australia will have a guaranteed place at their local public kindergarten from 2018 if the Liberal party is re-elected at the March state election. The commitments also include before and after school care facilities at all public primary schools, and five additional child...
Turnbull steps up childcare, tax cut push
SBS News - February 2, 2017Mr Turnbull says the childcare package will deliver the highest rate of subsidy to those who most need it, with a family on $60,000 a year paying about $15 a day per child for care. However, Labor remains opposed to the company tax cut and says the childcare plan should not be funded by cuts to family tax benefits for about one million Australians. Government...
Childcare rebate: Government accused of 'holding Senate to ransom' to fund bill
ABC News - Julie Doyle - February 1, 2017The Greens and Labor have condemned the Federal Government's decision to introduce a new bill combining its childcare changes with cuts to other family payments. The Government wants to boost childcare payments to most families but has consistently argued the extra funding must be paid...
Nick Xenophon 'more cautious than the PM' about childcare package
The Guardian - Gareth Hutchens - February 1, 2017Nick Xenophon says negotiations over the Turnbull government's childcare package are going more slowly than the prime minister has suggested. The Independent senator said the Coalition's controversial $48bn company tax cut plan would also need to be split in two when introduced to the Senate...
No guarantee troubled Tasmanian child care system changes will get current budget funding
ABC News - Richard Baines - February 1, 2017Tasmania's Premier is giving no guarantees that a suite of recommendations from the state's children's commissioner will be funded in this year's state budget. Commissioner Mark Morrissey yesterday released his report into Tasmania's troubled Out of Home Care (OOHC) system...
It's 2017. Why is the cost of childcare still a joke?
Daily Telegraph - Lanai Scarr - February 1, 2017$89,600. Soak that figure up. That's how much my husband and I would have to pay a year if we wanted to send our four children to childcare full time. $89,600. That's $9833 more than the national average salary of $79,767. It's $54,619 more than the minimum annual salary of $34,980.40...
Childcare rebate: Malcolm Turnbull to announce unified bill in attempt to pass long-delayed reform
ABC News - Julie Doyle - February 1, 2017Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull will use an address at the National Press Club today to unveil a new strategy to get his Government's childcare changes through Parliament. The Government wants to streamline multiple childcare subsidies into one means-tested payment, with the highest amount going to...
Another Go At Childcare Reforms As The PM Reaches Out To The Disenchanted
Huffington Post - Karen Barlow - January 31, 2017The Turnbull Government regards the current system as "broken" and in need of a "complete overhaul", but it has been unable to pass a $3 billion package that includes the removal of a $7500 payment cap for families earning less than $185,710. "When Parliament resumes, we will introduce a...
Jess McGurk drives 200km to drop her two-year-old son at childcare
The Australian - Tessa Akerman - January 30, 2017Charlton falls under the Buloke Shire Council. Mayor David Pollard said childcare was a big issue in any small, rural Victorian shire. He said while there was some subsidised childcare in areas, childcare was expensive for many low-earning residents. "It's very difficult to afford for the bulk of our...
Childcare is expensive, but not working costs more
Sydney Morning Herald - Georgina Dent - January 29, 2016As I neared the end of my first year back in the workforce after having a child, I sat down and calculated exactly how much money we had spent on childcare. The figure was staggering: we were $23,700 out of pocket for the year. Had the government's Child Care Rebate not existed, we would have...
NSW Cabinet reshuffle: Gladys Berejiklian appoints new counter terrorism minister
Sydney Morning Herald - Sean Nicholls - January 29, 2017In other Nationals promotions to cabinet, Sarah Mitchell will oversee childhood education and Aboriginal affairs and Adam Marshall will head tourism and major events.
Audit picks up department errors
Nine News - January 23, 2017Childcare services are receiving more than $500 million a year in incorrect payments from the federal government, a new report shows. The auditor-general report into the financial statement of government entities made a number of significant findings against departments and agencies over the...
Study shows the alarming cost of early childhood obesity
Sydney Morning Herald - James Lemon - January 23, 2017Australian parents have access to a "unique window of opportunity" to influence their children's behaviours that can not only bring short-term health benefits, but also affect health for the rest of their lives. The boosts aren't just to be had on a personal level either, with new research...
Kids left to wreck shops: 'We're not a childcare centre'
News.com.au - Ginger Gorman - January 22, 2017Judging by the comments, Charlie's post hit a nerve. Some of those remarks suggest it's not uncommon for people to leave their kids unattended at all kinds of businesses including: liquor stores, pharmacies, animal shelters, department stores and games stores. "People leave kids unattended...
