Child Care News
Adelaide childcare centres breaching the law, investigators find
The Advertiser - Brad Crouch - September 6, 2015DOZENS of breaches of childcare law - including some that put children at risk of harm - have been uncovered by investigators so far this year. One centre has been served with a suspension order and three individuals had their credentials cancelled due to not being "fit and proper persons"...
Time to rethink when children should start school, say experts
Sunday Herald Sun - Kathryn Powley - September 6, 2015Education Department rules mean that on the first day of term one, prep kids can range in age from four years eight months through to six. School transition expert Kay Margetts wants an overhaul of enrolment rules so all prep kids are at least five. She said research showed the...
Aussie dream of owning your own home is impossible without two incomes, Social Services Minister Scott Morrison says
Sunday Telegraph - Samantha Maiden - September 6, 2015Social Services Minister Scott Morrison has sounded the alarm that too many parents are being forced to delay having children in order to afford a mortgage, underlining the urgent need to improve childcare affordability for working families. Mr Morrison has confirmed sole parents and...
Mooted 'no vax' NSW childcare centre slammed by health officials
9News.com.au - September 4, 2015A northern NSW mother who wants to set up a "no vax" childcare centre has been slammed by health officials as irresponsible and dangerous. Mother-of-two Juanita Halden says she is responding to "no jab no play" policies, pro-vaccination health campaigns and government...
Pensioners could be uber drivers: older Australians and the shared economy
Financial Review - Chris Hourigan - September 4, 2015Childcare is another example of where older Australians could become part of the solution. Right now, a lack of quality facilities combined with a higher workforce participation rate among women has created huge demand for childcare and pushed up costs. Matching senior Australians to the...
Mums say leave crackdown devalues women
SBS News - September 1, 2015She warned of a "stampede on childcare places" if women were forced back to work earlier because they couldn't afford to have as much time off. Those concerns are shared by unions and advocacy group Women On Boards, which said the measures could force women into work earlier...
Parental leave change to squeeze childcare
9News.com.au - September 1, 2015A crackdown on so-called double-dipping mothers claiming paid parental leave could create a shortfall of 13,000 childcare places if women have to return to work earlier, unions say. They will make the case against the federal government's changes to paid parental leave at a Senate...
Cut back on tax talk to deal with spending spree
The Australian - Judith Sloan - September 1, 2015In the context of an ageing society, it is ironic that the area in which government spending is expected to grow most in the next decade is childcare. If there is one area that has been out of control for some time, it is childcare. It has been the classic case of poorly designed and...
NSW preschools face closure due to state government funding shake-up
Sydney Morning Herald - Rachel Browne - August 31, 2015NSW preschools are starting to close their doors following a funding shake-up in the early childhood education sector that has stripped government subsidies from most three-year-olds to focus greater resources on four-year-olds. Support funding offered to preschools that are...
Treasurer Joe Hockey's cash bonanza to get women back to work after children
The Australian - Renee Viellaris - August 30, 2015FAMILIES would keep welfare payments even if they returned to work or boosted their working hours under a plan to supercharge the economy. The Abbott Government White Paper - to be released before the next election - will include options that would allow low to middle-income...
Childcare and aged care mixed in trial of benefits to elderly
The Australian - Jessica Grewal - August 29, 2015At Griffith University, three of the state's brightest researchers are leading a nationwide study into the benefits of mixing aged care and childcare in an inter-generational setting. With rising dementia numbers and a looming ageing boom expected to place untold pressure on the nation's respite...
Why the Australian economy is going to hell in a handbasket
The Australian - Judith Sloan - August 29, 2015But the deterioration in the quality of the Productivity Commission's output has become more marked in the past year or two. The ridiculous report on childcare conflated the benefits of childcare for a small number of children from disadvantaged backgrounds with the case for...
SA children could miss out on preschool because of funding shortfall for staff
The Advertiser - Tim Williams - August 28, 2015CHILDREN will miss out on preschool or face travelling to centres far from home because a lack of State Government funding will force enrolment cuts under national staffing rules, operators and unions warn. Preschool directors contacted by The Advertiser said they may have to turn dozens...
From the mouths of babes: reversing Australia's declining foreign language learning
ABC News - Melanie Pearce - August 28, 2015The software has been developed and rolled out along with ipads to 41 child care centres around Australia under the year-long Early Learning Languages Australia (ELLA) trial. The Australian government announced the $9.8 million scheme late last year and the trial pre-school sites...
Tears in playground from childcare rivals Affinity, G8
The Australian - Tim Boreham - August 28, 2015The takeovers umpire has been called in to adjudicate this bitter sandpit war, with childcare provider target Affinity alleging foul play on the part of rival and jilted bidder G8. But don't be surprised if G8 troubles the Takeovers Panel with its own submission on aspects of Affinity's...
