Child Care News
Childcare funding proposals may hit families they aimed to help
Herald Sun - Phillippa Butt - March 1, 2015MOST families will be worse off if proposed changes to childcare funding are adopted, new modelling shows. The detailed analysis by Goodstart Early Learning shows low-income earners will be among thousands of Australian families worse off if the Federal Government adopts the…
Day care fails the grade: WA childcare centres fail to meet new national standards
PerthNow - Claire Bickers - March 1, 2015ALMOST half of the WA childcare services assessed against new national standards are not making the grade. And 13 centres are currently listed as failing to meet the national standards in every quality area assessed despite already meeting WA standards, an analysis of the latest data shows…
Parents face childcare centre ban if immunisations are not up to date
Herald Sun - Matt Johnston - February 28, 2015PARENTS will be turned away from childcare centres next year if their child’s immunisations are not up to date and they refuse to be counselled by a doctor. State health and education departments have begun drafting new laws so the Andrews Government can enforce its no jab, no play policy…
Focus on those most in need of child welfare
The Australian - Angela Shanahan - February 28, 2015In one week two reports have appeared, each advocating contradictory policy. Childcare and Early Childhood Learning, by the Productivity Commission, advocates expanding a means-tested childcare allowance to nannies for employed mothers; A New System for Better Employment…
Childcare families at risk of $250 'gap' fee
The Australian - Natasha Bita - February 28, 2015FAMILIES living or working in expensive inner-city suburbs face paying $250 a week in "gap fees" for daycare, under childcare reforms before the Abbott government. The Productivity Commission has recommended a Medicare-style rebate scheme for childcare, that would subsidise fees to a…
Childcare gap fees will add to family burdens
The Australian - Natasha Bita - February 28, 2015AS a working-class mum living in Australia's most expensive city, Nicole Wade counts every cent. "It's so expensive living in Sydney," she says. "We chose to live in a smaller house in a suburb that's less expensive so we can afford to have children. I already lose half my income on…
Family Day Care Australia express thoughts and sympathies following baby's death at Mt Tamborine
ABC News - February 28, 2015Australia's national peak body for family day care has expressed its sympathies to the family affected by the death of a baby boy at a centre in Queensland this week. Initial reports suggested the infant, who was less than 12 months old, was found not breathing in a cot at the family day…
Build the C-suite with tax deductible childcare, say lawyers
Financial Review - Karie Walsh - February 27, 2015Leading corporate lawyers have called for tax deductibility for childcare and nanny costs following the stark absence of support for it in the Productivity Commission's landmark review on childcare. It's a measure they say would encourage and support female lawyers back into the workforce...
Forget 'no jab, no pay' schemes, there are better ways to boost vaccination
The Conversation - Kristine Macartney - February 27, 2015Immunisation in Australia isn't compulsory – and doesn't need to be controversial. Most Australians recognise the incredible benefits that vaccination provides to prevent serious disease; we have high and stable coverage rates of around 93%. Getting childhood immunisation to the 95% target rate...
Scott Morrison for PM? If he's smart about children it could happen
Women's Agenda - Lisa Bryant - February 26, 2015In his campaign to be seen as a credible alternative leader to both Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull, Scott Morrison did quite a job at the National Press Council yesterday. When he was Immigration Minister the media could hardly get hide nor hair of him – now he's popping up on...
Tax Office urged to revisit childcare fee deduction as a work expense
Financial Review - Joanna Mather and Kate Walsh - February 26, 2015It was the early 1970s and women made up 33.6 per cent of the workforce when the High Court considered a case involving Ann Margaret Lodge, a single mother who claimed $647 in childcare costs as a tax deduction. The High Court ruled childcare expenditure was neither relevant nor...
Arena REIT raises funds for childcare growth
Financial Review - Nick Lenaghan - February 26, 2015Institutional investors are buying up almost $70 million of stock in Arena REIT, as the childcare property landlord launches a capital raising and substantial investor Morgan Stanley sells down its large stake. The property trust announced the $25 million capital raising – to fund its pursuit of...
Childcare review: Families consider impact of proposed changes put forward by productivity commission
ABC News (7.30 Report) - Madeleine Morris and Greg Muller - February 25, 2015Finding child care that is not only affordable but also available can feel like winning the lottery for new parents. New mothers wanting to return to work are often constrained by a childcare system that is expensive, often inflexible and frequently inaccessible. A productivity commission report...
Time to upgrade the Australian political debate as well as the welfare system: Scott Morrison
Sydney Morning Herald - Judith Ireland - February 25, 2015Mr Morrison told the National Press Club that debates around Australia's $150 billion welfare system and $7 billion childcare payments should not simply be about "whether we are better or worse off as a result of any individual measure". "It's about, 'will the next generation be better or worse...
Whitehorse Council scraps Family Day Care program; 218 families to lose service
Herald Sun - Jesse Wray-McCann - February 25, 2015IN A blow to families relying on affordable childcare, Whitehorse Council has confirmed it will scrap its Family Day Care program. About 218 families use Family Day Care in Whitehorse, but from July 1 this year changes to the Federal Community Support Program will make the council no longer...
