Child Care News
Paying more for less in childcare
The Canberra Times - February 5, 2016While it is all too easy for critics of subsidised childcare to dismiss the service as middle class welfare, the fact is that in the 21st century it is a necessary part of life. That point was spelt out loud and clear in a report released by the Productivity Commission in 2014 which stated "Early Childhood Education...
Childcare package so confusing, some parents may give up on childcare: Mission Australia
Sydney Morning Herald - Judith Ireland - February 5, 2016The federal government's flagship childcare reforms are so difficult to understand, some parents may give up and pull their children out of care, a Senate inquiry has heard. The warning comes as a survey of parents found about 10 per cent would not meet the Coalition's new work test to qualify for...
High daycare demand as mothers join workforce
The Australian - Natasha Bita - February 5, 2016Demand for daycare has doubled in three years, creating a shortage of 316,000 places as more mothers seek paid work. One in six children Ârequires more time in daycare or preschool, the Productivity Commission revealed yesterday. The number of under-fives needing additional childcare more than doubled...
Productivity Commission report into child care reveals families losing out as costs soar
News.com.au - Lauren Wilson & Jessica Chambers - February 4, 2016PARENTS are paying an extra $104 a week to place their child in long day care compared to 2008, a report of childcare has revealed. Victorian Mums and Dads with kids in long day care for 50 hours a week have seen the cost of care increase more than $5400 per year, according to a Productivity...
Childcare in the ACT is expensive and underqualified, says new report
Canberra Times - Emma Macdonald - February 4, 2016Canberrans paid the highest costs in the country for long-day childcare last year while the staff caring for children were the least qualified. According to the latest findings from the Productivity Commission's Report on Government Services 2016, Canberra families paid an average of $493 a week for...
Childcare can work wonders for mothers and the economy
The Australian - Julia Davison - February 4, 2016Which is why the federal government's proposal to invest $3 billion to make childcare more affordable is so important, not just as a social reform but as an economic reform. Making childcare more affordable is an investment in Australia's future. It will boost workforce participation, productivity, employment...
Cheaper childcare 'a boon for workforce'
The Australian - Natasha Bita - February 4, 2016Cheaper childcare will lure 19,000 parents back to work within three years, a new study shows. Working families' out-of-pocket costs for daycare will fall by an average 24 per cent under the Turnbull government's plan to pay higher subsidies, economic modelling by PricewaterhouseCoopers shows...
Australia's fertile ground spawns a childcare boom
Business Spectator - Florence Chong - February 4, 2016With a volatile sharemarket, minuscule deposit rates, and looming apartment oversupply in key capital cities, childcare centres have emerged as something of an investment haven. Routinely, when a childcare centre comes onto the market in what is considered a 'good location' in a major capital city, it can...
Shift workers may pay more for childcare under Federal Government reforms
The Advertiser - Lauren Wilson - February 4, 2016SHIFT-workers with young children may be forced to pay more for childcare under proposed Federal Government reforms, according to the peak body for in-home family day care. Family Day Care Australia has told federal Senators the hourly fee cap the government wants to introduce will unfairly impact...
Love is not enough: Grumpy grandparents want childcare pay
Sydney Morning Herald - Marissa Calligeros - February 3, 2016On average, grandparents are caring for each of their grandchildren for 16 hours each week. Most say their lives revolve around their childcare commitments: 75 per cent of grandparents live closer to their children to help take care of the grandchildren; 58 per cent forfeit recreation; 42 per cent sacrifice travel...
Stay-at-home parents who volunteer to reading to students could soon claim subsidised childcare
Courier Mail - Brittany Vonow & Lauren Wilson - February 3, 2016STAY-AT-HOME parents who volunteer their time reading in schools and childcare centres might be allowed to claim taxpayer-subsidised childcare. Under the Turnbull Government's new reforms, only parents who work, study, or volunteer are able to qualify for childcare rebates. The new "activity test"...
Govt's 'subsidised' nannies to cost parents $30 an hour
Canberra Times - Noel Towell - February 2, 2016The federal government's $246 million "nanny program" is in serious trouble, with some families who signed up for the program shocked by the cost of more than $30 for each hour of child care. The cost, of nearly $1200 for a standard working week of care for one child, has private providers hired by the...
Novak Djokovic Foundation donates $20,000 to Melbourne City Mission early childhood learning program
ABC News - February 1, 2016Novak Djokovic's charitable foundation has donated $20,000 to Melbourne City Mission's early childhood education program to help disadvantaged children. The money will go towards the mission's early years supported playgroup program, based in the outer suburbs of Braybrook and Doreen...
After school care in Sydney: Hundreds of children stranded as NSW government fails to approve centres
Sydney Morning Herald - Eryk Bagshaw - February 1, 2016Hundreds of children in the inner west are stranded without child care after the NSW Government failed to approve an emergency after care provider in time for the start of the school year. In November, Leichhardt Council announced that it would open up its town hall for after school care to help...
Labor plan for childcare at new schools
The West Australian - Gareth Parker - February 1, 2016Every new WA public primary school would have space for a childcare facility and a Labor State government would encourage private operators to provide before and after-school care at every school, Opposition Leader Mark McGowan has promised. In an announcement designed to convince voters that...
