Dodgy carers slip through the net
Herald Sun - Carly Crawford, Elissa Doherty - April 11, 2011ONLY four childcare centres a year are being prosecuted in Victoria, despite hundreds of kids being lost and smacked. A Herald Sun investigation has found the Education Department has prosecuted just 45 centres from about 30,000 inspections in the...
A childcare fall leads to anxious wait
Herald Sun - Elissa Doherty - April 11, 2011ANDREW and Donna Iezzi face years of uncertainty after their little boy fell off a change table at a Melbourne childcare centre. They anxiously wonder if bouts of vomiting or restless nights stem from the injuries he sustained on October 28, 2009...
OECD slams hostility to foreign investment
The Australian - David Uren - April 8, 2011It said childcare benefits should be made more conditional on employment and job search, while they should also be restructured to be more generous for families with very young children. It said over the longer term, as the budget allowed, there should...
A head start for children at risk
The Daily Telegraph - Joe Hildebrand - April 8, 2011THE state''s leading network of early childhood and early intervention care centres has called on the State Government to fund free preschooling for children in disadvantaged areas. SDN Children''s Services has thrown its support behind the campaign for...
ACOSS seeks end to middle-class welfare
Ninemsn - Susanna Dunkerley - April 7, 2011The nation's peak welfare group has urged the federal government to take an axe to middle-class welfare payments including childcare and private health rebates. The Australian Council of Social Services' (ACOSS) federal budget submission also calls for...
Child payments in Budget sights
The West Australian - Shane Wright and Kim Macdonald - April 7, 2011A focus is on family and childcare payments, with Treasury convinced that the complexity of the payments results in lower levels of workforce participation, especially among women between 25 and 54. Julia Gillard has made clear the Budget will be about...
Preschool robbery - early-learning charges hitting NSW parents hardest
The Daily Telegraph - Letitia Rowlands - April 7, 2011NSW parents pay hundreds of dollars a week for their child's preschool education while families in other states have access to early learning for free or at little charge. An Australian Bureau of Statistics report released this week shows 6161 families ...
Childcare centres fail health rules
The West Australian - Megan Bailey - April 7, 2011Dozens of WA childcare centres are putting children at risk of sickness by failing to meet basic hygiene and disease control standards, according to inspectors. National Childcare Accreditation Council inspectors visited 95 of the 476 childcare centres...
Children, ear infections and antibiotics
ABC Online - Cathy Johnson - April 6, 2011But it is especially common in babies and toddlers, particularly those attending childcare. Peaking in the cooler months, it makes them unwell and irritable – often with a fever – and can affect their hearing. Since the infection is usually caused by ...
Making special schools a reality
The Daily Telegraph - Joe Hildebrand and Letitia Rowlands - April 6, 2011HUNDREDS of education and child welfare groups have thrown their support behind a push for new remedial pre-schools to help vulnerable children before they hit school. Support for the proposal, outlined by top sociologist Tony Vinson at...
Use common sense in childcare: Kate Ellis
The Australian - Natasha Bita - April 6, 2011CHILDCARE staff need to use common sense when disciplining children, federal Childcare Minister Kate Ellis said yesterday. Defending new regulations that expose staff to fines for using inappropriate discipline, Ms Ellis said childcare workers - not...
Naughty corner clampdown 'a fad', says child psychologist John Irvine
The Australian - Sallie Don and Tom Westbrook - April 5, 2011THE federal government yesterday rushed to downplay a raft of new regulations for childcare centres, which include fining workers for excluding misbehaving children from group activities, while a leading child psychologist deemed the new rules a "fad"...
Minister sends fines idea to naughty corner
Sydney Morning Herald - Dan Harrison - April 5, 2011THE Childcare Minister, Kate Ellis, has dismissed as "ridiculous" fears that under proposed national regulations childcare workers could be fined for sending children to the "naughty corner" or for celebrating Christmas and Easter...
WA rejects 'culturally correct' child care
The West Australian - Daniel Emerson - April 5, 2011Community Services Minister Robyn McSweeney has vowed to reject proposed national laws that threaten childcare centres with hefty fines for "culturally inappropriate" activities such as Easter egg hunts or Christmas tree decorating...
Offended? Go sit in the haughty corner
The Daily Telegraph - David Penberthy - April 5, 2011HE'S been billed as New Zealand's answer to the Supernanny and his program The Politically Incorrect Parenting Show, which advocates punishing children by padlocking them in their rooms, will be screening in Australia this year. Nigel Latta says reasoning...