Child Care News
Quadrant, Pacific Equity Partners line up for Camp Australia
Financial Review - Sarah Thompson, Anthony Macdonald & Joyce Moullakis - November 3, 2016Two of Australia's biggest private firms are making a play for Camp Australia, which provides before and after school care in schools throughout Australia.Street Talk can reveal Quadrant Private Equity and Pacific Equity Partners are among sponsor firms that submitted an indicative bid on...
Fathers need to join the conversation on paid parental leave
The Age - Lee Gordon - November 3, 2016I recently asked my father if he took time off work after I was born. "Nope", he replied without missing a beat. He went to work the night I was born and taught his corporation law class at a local university. He didn't take paternity leave around the time I was born, but my mother, following a well-studied...
Mayfield Childcare bets investors will return to ASX childcare
Financial Review - Simon Evans - November 2, 2016Are investors still having bad dreams about the childcare sector as the $1.6 billion collapse of industry behemoth ABC Learning in 2008 fades into the distance? ASX aspirant Mayfield Childcare thinks the time is right for a new entrant in an industry it says is still highly fragmented. It is preparing to...
Ord Minnett, Taylor Collison on board for childcare roll-up IPO
Financial Review - Sarah Thompson, Anthony Macdonald & Joyce Moullakis - November 1, 2016Childcare roll-up Mayfield Childcare is seeking to raise $24 million in an initial public offering managed by Ord Minnett and Taylor Collison. According to a prospectus lodged with the corporate regulator, Mayfield's brokers will seek to sell 24 million new shares at $1 each. The deal valued the company...
Sydney parents are being forced to fork out hundreds of dollars to get their kids into childcare
Daily Telegraph - Jillian McKee - November 1, 2016PARENTS in the inner west are being forced to fork out hundreds of dollars just to get their children on a waiting list for child care. At some childcare centres in Leichhardt it is not uncommon to pay $100 to add your child to the waiting list - with no guarantee a position will come up. In nearby Balmain...
Mayfield Childcare fronts fundies
Financial Review - Sarah Thompson, Anthony Macdonald & Joyce Moullakis - October 31, 2016Fund managers are running the numbers on a new childcare roll-up seeking to join the likes of G8 Education and Think Childcare on the ASX-boards. Mayfield Education plans to acquire 26 centres within two hours drive from Melbourne's central business district, which would have 1941 places and 19...
Two years of preschool have more impact than one, research shows
The Conversation - Stacey Fox - October 31, 2016Providing universal access to preschool programs for all three-year-old children could improve academic results in the longer term and prevent the learning gap that sees nearly one in four children not ready for school when they start. Our research shows that it is an achievable – and high priority...
Children should be starting preschool at 3, Victoria University study says
ABC News - Julie Doyle - October 31, 2016A new report from Victoria University has recommended universal preschool be extended to include three-year-old children. Under the current agreement between the Commonwealth and states, universal access to preschool is offered to four year olds. Dr Stacey Fox from the University's...
Overseas grandparents flying in to babysit when cost, accessibility problems arise
ABC News - Jana Black - October 30, 2016The Rajputs are just one of many families who are turning to creative child-minding solutions, to help fill the gaps created by cost and availability issues. Australia's most recent census data showed that of the 523,300 Australian women who were mothers to children under the age of two, 39...
Pauline Hanson sounds budget warning, defends welfare cuts.
Financial Review - Phillip Coorey - October 29, 2016On Friday, Mr Morrison lamented that there were still welfare payments in Australia that were not means tested but the government could not name any. There is the child care rebate but the government, if it can pass its planned welfare cuts, will use some of the proceeds to establish a new...
Paid parental leave: Young mum unpacks experience as a 'double dipper'
ABC News - Emily Bourke - October 28, 2016The original stated purpose of the Government's paid parental leave scheme was to afford babies time to bond with their carer/s. I'm just a rookie in this mum game, but building strong, healthy, functional families, ensuring babies physically and mentally thrive and feel emotionally connected to...
REITs pass first quarter results test
Sydney Morning Herald - Carolyn Cummins - October 28, 2016DEXUS also took the opportunity to unveil its latest venture into child care. The partnership with Guardian Early Learning Group will offer DEXUS customers priority on waitlists over a proportion of available childcare places. The offering is expected to provide greater convenience and...
'Sympathetic' Malcolm Turnbull prepared to negotiate over paid parental leave change
Sydney Morning Herald - Tom McIlroy - October 27, 2016Malcolm Turnbull has signalled he is prepared to negotiate with Senate crossbenchers to secure a crackdown on paid-parental leave, with the government's controversial start date expected to be dropped. A day after independent Nick Xenophon said the proposed January 1, 2017 start date...
Superannuation during paid parental leave needed to address pay gap: report
Financial Review - Primrose Riordan - October 27, 2016While the Coalition has recently introduced tax measures to combat women's loss of earnings when out of the workforce, employers are not obliged to pay super during paid parental leave. Labor is mulling a change in policy to support mandatory super for women on PPL. The authors warn...
Experts, educators split on whether preschoolers should be using digital devices
ABC News - Jodie Noyce - October 27, 2016Kristy Goodwin, children's technology and development researcher at Macquarie University, is not against using digital devices in preschool, but thinks we need to be careful. She warns that overuse could cause near-sightedness, poor posture and affect fine motor skills. "As a researcher, it...
