Child Care News
Family Day Care to pay the price in new government reforms
Sunshine Coast Daily - Kathy Sundstrom - May 11, 2015FAMILY Day Care Australia, the national peak body, has claimed since Tony Abbott came into power, more than $157 million in operation support for family day care services has been stripped. The service has also had to increase regulatory obligations under the National Quality Framework...
Child care stocks rally on govt proposal
The Australian - Michael Roddan - May 11, 2015Investors have rushed to buy shares in early childhood education after the federal government unveiled new support measures for the sector ahead of Tuesday's federal budget. Investment dealer Canaccord Genuity said $3.5 billion in extra government funding and incentives would...
Budget 2015: Childcare overhaul risks new Senate fight
The Australian - Natasha Bita - May 11, 2015The Coalition’s $3.5 billion childcare overhaul is at risk of being held to ransom in the Senate, as economists question the promised economic dividend of luring 240,000 parents back to work in a weak labour market. In what is shaping as a repeat of last year’s standoff over budget savings...
Childcare package neither bold or sustainable
The Conversation - Robert Breunig - May 11, 2015Determining whether money spent on childcare is "worth it" in terms of educational outcomes and women’s equality is harder to answer. While these outcomes have value, they don’t come with a price and reasonable people can disagree about their worth. We know from overseas that...
Fear poor kids will be penalised
The Australian - Natasha Bita - May 11, 2015Daycare operators fear some children will miss out on pre-school education despite the $3.5 billion boost to childcare subsidies in tomorrow’s budget. Stay-at-home parents earning less than $65,000 a year will have their childcare subsidies halved to cover 12 hours of care per week, unless their...
Federal budget 2015: How the Abbott government childcare changes affect you
Sydney Morning Herald – Judith Ireland – May 10, 2015We compare the current childcare system with the proposed changes in 2017. The Abbott government has unveiled its long-promised childcare package pledging more money for many families from 2017 but stripping others of nearly all of the childcare assistance they currently...
Budget 2015: Government childcare package overlooks stay-at-home parents, Nationals say
ABC News - Louise Yaxley - May 10, 2015The Government's childcare package has Nationals worried that families with a stay-at-home parent are being overlooked. The $3.5 billion childcare plan is aimed at leaving 1.2 million families better off. But it has a heavy emphasis on encouraging increased workforce participation and has...
Federal budget 2015: Childcare package backed by industry
Financial Review - Phillip Coorey - May 10, 2015Industry groups at both ends of the income spectrum have welcomed the government's revamped child care package, putting pressure on the Senate to pass cuts to welfare which would provide the extra $3.5 billion in funding required over the next four years. Both the Early Learning and Care...
Government predicts substantial participation boost from big child care spend
The Conversation - Michelle Grattan - 10 May 2015The government estimates its proposed A$3.5 billion child care package will encourage more than 240,000 families to increase their involvement in paid employment, including almost 38,000 jobless families. The changes, starting in July 2017, would see working families on incomes between...
Tony Abbott confirms new childcare reforms are reliant on cuts to Family Tax Benefits
News.com.au - Lauren Wilson - May 10, 2015PARENTS have been told they will only benefit from the Federal Government’s generous new childcare package if substantial cuts to Family Tax Benefits pass the Parliament. Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Social Services Minister Scott Morrison on Sunday unveiled the Jobs for Families...
Federal budget 2015: Budget to end 'double dip' on parental leave
Financial Review - Phillip Coorey - May 10, 2015Tuesday's federal budget will save almost $1 billion by denying taxpayer-funded paid parental leave to those who already have access to a more generous company scheme. Treasurer Joe Hockey announced on Sunday that, from July 1, 2016, the taxpayer-funded scheme, which pays...
Childcare to be about work, not education, in the budget
The Australian - Natasha Bita - May 9, 2015The Abbott government yesterday announced a "childcare safety net", changing funding arrangements for the nation’s most disadvantaged kids. Social Services Minister Scott Morrison said the government would spend $327.7 million extra across the next four years, although it will be....
Jenny Macklin's message for Scott Morrison: Childcare is not welfare
Women's Agenda - Jenny Macklin - May 8, 2015By linking child care to work - and only work - it devalues the importance of early education to a child's future success. The reality is, regardless of how much parents work, early education is one of the smartest investments we can make in our future. The importance of the first five years...
Budget 2015: Scott Morrison announces extra childcare money for at-risk children
ABC News - James Bennett - May 8, 2015The Government is planning to spend an extra $850 million on childcare for disadvantaged families, children considered at risk and those living in regional or remote parts of Australia. Social Services Minister Scott Morrison told the ABC's 7.30 program the money would be aimed at struggling...
Budget 2015: Increased childcare for needy kids
The Australian - Stefanie Balogh - May 8, 2015Disadvantaged children will benefit from a budget injection of $328 million in new childcare funding designed to give them greater access to early learning and improve their chances of breaking the poverty cycle. Social Services Minister Scott Morrison is determined to ensure the most vulnerable...
