Child Care News
Childcare workers chain themselves to Malcolm Turnbull's office doors
The Age - Nick Toscano - March 8, 2016Malcolm Turnbull's offices in Melbourne have been targeted by protesting childcare workers with a group chaining themselves to the entrance doors and making demands for better pay. The chained-up childcare workers have drawn a crowd outside the Office of Prime Minister and Cabinet after converging...
Australia must lift female workplace participation to prosper
Financial Review - Diane Smith-Gander - March 7, 2016The status quo is not working. It's time we took some calculated risks.This means taking action on things not yet on the national economic agenda: the conundrum of overlapping school and work hours; taking childcare costs out of the welfare sphere and into the Tax Office like any other work-related...
Families 'paying an extra $7k' for childcare under the Coalition
9News.com.au - March 6, 2016A new report claims childcare is costing Australian families significantly more annually than it was before the Coalition was elected in 2013. According to the Daily Telegraph, couples earning a combined income of $155,000 are paying an extra $7440 a year to have their children cared for. Families on a...
A new national program for preschool students aims to curb domestic violence
9News.com.au - March 6, 2016Early Child Australia this afternoon said the program would involve "dress-ups" but said there were "no plans to roll out programs in kindergartens or pre-schools about cross-dressing or sex education". "We are not overtly teaching children to pick up a feather boa and put it on," Early Childhood Australia...
Toddlers to be taught about cross-dressing in controversial sex ed program
Herald Sun - Susie O'Brien - March 6, 2016TODDLERS will be taught about sex, sexuality and cross-dressing in a controversial national program being rolled out at childcare centres and kindergartens next month. Educators will be encouraged to use dress-ups to explain cross-dressing to kids and may even take group tours of the opposite sex's toilets...
Health scare closes Logan child care centre after child dies
Brisbane Times - Lisa Yallamas - March 5, 2016The sudden death of a three-year-old boy from an unknown illness has led to the voluntary closure of a Shailer Park child care centre. The child, who had been suffering respiratory problems, went home early from child care on Thursday with a fever and died suddenly at home. Metro South Public Health...
There's an easy way to boost GDP by as much as 13%
The Age - Anne Summers - March 4, 2016The experience of Canada, a country with a similar economy and social structure to Australia, is that women''s participation increases when childcare costs come down and tax disincentives are removed. In Brisbane when the commitment was announced, the Australian government stated that its...
Victoria fights federal government's proposed childcare package
Herald Sun - Annika Smethurst - March 4, 2016THE STATE Government will lobby Victorian senators to vote against the Federal Government's proposed childcare package, over concerns that more than 300,000 families will be worse off. According to modelling by Australian National University (ANU), one in three families will have a reduced subsidy...
ANU modelling suggests more families to lose out in childcare package
Sydney Morning Herald - Judith Ireland - March 4, 2016Australian National University modelling of the Coalition's new childcare package suggests more families will be hit by the proposed changes than the Turnbull government's figures show. The modelling, commissioned by Early Childhood Australia, says about 330,000 families will be worse...
Where are the dads? Parental leave for men remains low
Sydney Morning Herald - Miki Perkins - March 4, 2016Just one in fifty Australian men takes parental leave, according to a new research paper from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development that looks at the issue across member countries. Australia's result compares with 40 per cent or more of men taking parental leave...
Inverell's Family Day Carers battle more barriers
Invererll Times - Michèle Jedlicka - March 3, 2016OCTOBER 2015 federal legislation on a practice coined 'child swapping' has adversely affected Family Day Care (FDC) providers within the Inverell district. The unpalatable term relates to malpractice where FDC educators have historically swapped their own children or falsified records...
'Virtually in caretaker mode': government accused of letting 2015 budget childcare package lag
Sydney Morning Herald - Judith Ireland - March 2, 2016A key Senate crossbencher has accused the Coalition of being "virtually in caretaker mode" and others say the government has not been talking to them about legislation crucial to passing its childcare reforms. With only four sitting days left before the pre-budget break - and speculation...
Landlords do more for middle-aged male cyclists than mothers
Financial Review - Michael Bleby - March 2, 2016Creating childcare facilities is a tougher task, however. They're harder to retrofit than showers and bike racks. "Providing more childcare and childcare solutions is a challenge for the property sector and government," said DEXUS Property Group senior executive Deborah Coakley. "It is easier to design...
ANZ, Nomura line up big banks for Guardian Early Learning
Financial Review - Sarah Thompson, Anthony Macdonald & Joyce Moullakis - March 2, 2016Lead financiers ANZ Banking Group and Nomura have finalised syndication of a $255 million loan to fund the buyout of childcare centre owner, Guardian Early Learning. Street Talk understands ANZ and Nomura secured support from the likes of Commonwealth Bank of Australia's Bankwest...
Centrelink tells parents payments will be cut despite having their children's vaccinations up to date
Daily Telegraph - Adam Bell - March 2, 2016THE federal government has been posting warning letters to parents who have done the right thing and vaccinated their children, threatening to cut off their child care benefit payments as soon as this week. Parents whose shots are up to date but whose official records have not been updated because of...
