Child Care News
Could this spell the end of quality childcare in Australia?
Women's Agenda - Frances Crimmins - February 25, 2015If you're a parent, can you remember that feeling of dropping your child off at childcare for the first time? The separation anxiety that builds up as you walk to the door is an almost universal experience, an unavoidable aspect of leaving your child in someone else's care for the first...
ACCI wants tax deduction, loans for childcare
Financial Review - Joanna Mather - February 25, 2015Childcare subsidies should be replaced with loans or tax deductions for wealthier families, the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry has told Social Services Minister Scott Morrison. Rebates should cut out for single parents earning more than $60,000 and couples with combined...
Aussie mums work, but the system doesn't
Daily Telegraph - Lisa Mayoh - February 25 2015FORGET the stress of nine to five - it's childcare that's the real hard work. If you can find it, that is. From the moment a woman falls pregnant, it's a choice between finding care or facing a future stuck on the playground bench. As a full-time working mum of two I have written a lot on this...
Politicians far too slow to understand importance of quality early childhood education and care
The Age - Ross Gittins - February 24, 2015I'm not sure how many barbecues it's stopping these days, but the issue you and I call childcare and the politically cool call ECEC - early childhood education and care - is still one of great concern to experts ranging from hard-headed economists to soft-hearted social workers, not to mention...
Proposed funding to early childcare funding could affect services in remote areas
ABC News - Michael Cavanagh - February 24, 2015Supporters and operators of early childcare services in remote Australia fear many would find it extremely difficult to function if recommendations by the Productivity Commission were implemented. The Commission has proposed rolling the present subsidies into one payment...
Delay In Kindergarten Entry Linked To Poor Academic Performance Among Children, Study Finds
International Business Times - Samantha Goodwin - February 24 2015Children who start their schooling late are more likely to perform poorly in academics throughout their education life, a new study finds. Premature children are no longer a rarity. Owing to this, many parents try to hold their premature child for a year or two, arguing that their child in not...
Blueprint for childcare subsidies leaves corporate mums in the red
Financial Review - Joanna Mather - February 24, 2015Professional women have looked at the Productivity Commission's blueprint for childcare subsidies and are wondering why they have to be sacrificed. As governments push for more women in executive ranks, the commission wants the government to wind back support for wealthier...
Tax breaks on nannies will unleash top female talent
Financial Review - Louise McBride - February 24, 2015The government says that it wants more women at the top levels of corporate Australia. But the Productivity Commission's review of the childcare system misses the point when it comes to professional women. The PC pushes a socialist view that a tax break for a salary paid to a nanny...
Childcare places still come up short
On Line Opinion - Trisha Jha - February 24, 2015The government released the long-awaited final version of the Productivity Commission's report on childcare late on Thursday. It makes several important recommendations for making the sector more efficient and less complex for families, but it doesn't do enough to address the shortage...
Productivity Commission childcare report shows blind faith in market
The Conversation - Eva Cox - February 23, 2015Many of the proposals derive from assumptions that the funding of these services should ensure minimal interference, with a classic, market-based model for meeting "demand". These assumptions ignore the Productivity Commission's evidence that the current market-based supply...
Forget yoga, city parents need a childcare assistance COLA: Only About Children founder Brendan McAssey
BRW - Michael Bailey - February 23, 2015Social Services Minister Scott Morrison doesn't want taxpayers funding "yoga classes" offered by premium inner-city childcare networks such as Only About Children. But OAC founder Brendan McAssey says such extras are immaterial compared with the cost of real estate and labour at...
Tuberculosis testing at Surry Hills childcare centre finds no active cases, NSW health authorities say
ABC News - Danuta Kozaki - February 23, 2015New South Wales health authorities say there are no active cases of tuberculosis at a childcare centre in Sydney's inner city following the testing of 100 children and staff. A person who had daily contact with the children at the Only About Children Surry Hills centre contracted the disease...
Someone has to pay for childcare
Financial Review - February 23, 2015The Productivity Commission is to be commended for cutting through to the bottom line that the billions of dollars of taxpayer subsidies for childcare should be skewed more towards lower income earners. And it injects some common sense into the creeping credentialism that is increasing...
Scott Morrison urges Labor to agree on new childcare policy
The Australian - Joe Kelly - February 22, 2015SOCIAL Services Minister Scott Morrison has appealed to Labor, urging it to work with the government to devise a new childcare package after the Productivity Commission proposed the introduction of a new means-tested subsidy last week. Speaking on the ABC's Insiders program...
Vaccinate your children or forget Government rebate for daycare
Sunday Telegraph - Samantha Maiden - February 22, 2015PARENTS who refuse to vaccinate their children must be stripped of childcare payments unless their care is quarantined to the family home. The Productivity Commission's report into childcare has adopted a tough line on vaccination on the basis that all parents must play a collective role in...