Child Care News
Childcare changes: Warnings over push for hourly billing
Sydney Morning Herald - Judith Ireland - November 23, 2015Ms Page warned that while parents might be "seduced" by the idea of hourly billing, ultimately it could see centres reduce their opening hours to only cover times when there were lots of children in care, or fee increases. "[The government] needs to do some proper analysis on what will be the likely impact,"...
No jab, no pay laws pass parliament
SBS News - November 23, 2015The federal government's no-jab-no-pay laws will remove childcare benefits, rebates and the Family Tax Benefit A end-of-year supplement from parents who don't immunise their children. The changes start on January 1, 2016, with exemptions for medical reasons, after legislation passed the Senate...
Simon Birmingham flags paying for childcare by the hour
The Australian - Natasha Bita - November 23, 2015Families will be able to cut childcare costs by sending children to daycare for shorter sessions, as the federal government forces centres to bill by the hour and abolish flat daily fees. Education Minister Simon Birmingham flagged the controversial change yesterday, declaring that young children with a...
Childcare crackdown: Hunt for parents rorting $283m from the family daycare system
The Sunday Telegraph - Samantha Maiden - November 22, 2015In some extreme cases large-scale child swapping has occurred, with operators maximising their income by claiming childcare payments for their employees' children being looked after by other family daycare educators. However, no childcare was ever provided. New figures reveal that an investigation...
No Jab, No Pay: 8000 more conscientious objectors vaccinate children in past year
The Sunday Telegraph - Samantha Maiden - November 22, 2105AUSTRALIA'S small but dangerous army of parents who refuse to vaccinate their children is finally in retreat, with thousands of parents dumping their "conscientious objection" excuses. As federal parliament prepares to pass No Jab, No Pay laws this week that will strip parents of childcare and welfare...
Canberra childcare provider points to oversupply of places
Canberra Times - Matthew Raggatt - November 21, 2015Canberra's largest provider of paid childcare has claimed the city has an oversupply of more than 1300 long day care places. The figures come as the ACT government revealed there had been an increase of more than 1100 long day care places in the last year. Communities@Work deputy chief...
Affinity shareholders endorse takeover
The Australian - Michael Roddan - November 20, 2015Affinity shareholders have backed the takeover bid from Anchorage Capital Partners, which will see the private equity firm's new childcare business acquire all of Affinity's shares. Affinity shareholders voted overwhelmingly in favour of the deal today, with 99.91 per cent of vote endorsing the Anchorage's bid...
Lachlan's parents plea to change day care pool laws after tragedy
Perth Now - Alyesha Anderson - November 15, 2015In an exclusive statement to The Sunday Times, Lachlan's parents said this week's announcement of a ban on pools at family daycare centres didn't go far enough and was just a "quick-fix solution". "What about if your kids are in the care of a family member, friend or babysitter who also happens...
Family payment cuts and childcare reforms form an uneasy marriage
Brisbane Times - Judith Ireland - November 14, 2015But when it realised that actual reform would be difficult to achieve without money, the final policy was born in May with $3.5 billion attached. With it came the argument that this new money was tied to family payment cuts, some of which have been stuck in the Senate since the 2014 budget...
Childcare workers to rally in Melbourne for equal pay bid
Herald Sun - Susie O'Brien - November 13, 2015CHILDCARE workers will rally in Melbourne to kick off their equal pay campaign. Educators in the early childhood sector are being paid as little as $20 an hour - in most cases less than those who clean the centres' toilets. An equal pay case will be held in the Fair Work Commission, where childcare workers...
'No jab, no pay' immunisation law likely to go ahead
Sydney Morning Herald - Jane Lee - November 12, 2015A Senate committee has paved the way for the Turnbull government to withhold childcare rebates from the families of unvaccinated children, despite health experts' concerns it will not improve vaccination rates. It also recommended introducing a national scheme to compensate families of children...
G8 Education snaps up 13 centres
The Australian - November 12, 2015G8 Education will spend almost $30 million to buy up 13 childcare and education centres from several sellers. The purchases will be covered by G8's cash reserves and are expected to be settled by the end of February, 2016. The $29.7 million in acquisitions will increase G8's places by 1,000, with the...
Catholic education system to shift Year 7 into high schools after decision by SA Commission for Catholic Schools
The Advertiser - Tim Williams - November 12, 2015Commission chairman Professor Denis Ralph said early childhood services, including infant childcare and preschools, would be added to "as many (school) sites as possible", helping balance the loss of Year 7 enrolment from primary schools. Prof Ralph said the full strategy would be rolled out over five...
Swimming pool ban proposed at family daycares after toddler drowning
Perth Now - Kate Campbell - November 12, 2015Minister for Local Government and Community Services Tony Simpson said on Thursday that he would propose the ban to the national body that regulates family daycare centres. If that failed to gain traction, he vowed to push ahead with a ban at a state level. The minister gave a commitment to...
Labor opposes bulk of Turnbull government's cuts to family payments
Sydney Morning Herald - Judith Ireland - November 10, 2015The Turnbull government is considering breaking up its family payments legislation to get some savings through Parliament, with Labor opposing most of the package and support from the crossbench looking shaky. On Tuesday, Labor announced it would oppose the bulk of the Coalition's revamped...
