Child Care News
Controversial MP Fred Nile apologises after comparing childcare centres to 'day orphanages'
Daily Telegraph - Miles Godfrey - February 4, 2015CONTROVERSIAL upper house MP Fred Nile has apologised after likening childcare centres to "day orphanages" - a comment that sparked outrage across the country. Rev Nile, the leader of the Christian Democrat Party, tweeted the comment in late January, saying: "Stay-at-home...
Pressure for Tony Abbott as families face $60 a day childcare hike
The Australian - Natasha Bita - February 4, 2015FAMILIES will pay up to $60 a day more for childcare when new staffing rules take force next year, undermining Tony Abbott’s pledge to make daycare cheaper. Centres in NSW, South Australia and Victoria must hire extra staff in 2016 - fuelling fees that have already soared 8 per cent in...
What is really wrong with our childcare system?
NEWS.com.au - February 3, 2015DIRE problems with the accessibility and affordability of childcare can only be fixed by a significant overhaul of the system. Cash-strapped working parents, childcare experts, economists and business groups all agree that out-of-pocket childcare costs are too steep, and the $7 billion...
Tony Abbott hints 1.5% levy on big business could go to childcare scheme
The Guardian - Shalailah Medhora - February 3, 2015The prime minister, Tony Abbott, has given his strongest indication yet that the 1.5% levy imposed on big business to pay for the paid parental leave (PPL) scheme will stay, despite the scheme being ditched. The PPL policy was abandoned on Monday, after being roundly criticised for being...
Tony Abbott rejects Julie Bishop speculation, promises affordable childcare
Sydney Morning Herald - Rachel Browne - February3, 2015Mr Abbott promised parents his new policy would provide affordable and accessible childcare, although he offered scant detail on the new system. Speaking at a childcare centre in the Sydney suburb of Russell Lea, he said he would work closely with the early childhood and education...
Childcare reform on agenda as Tony Abbott drops parental leave
Financial Review - Joanna Heath - February 3, 2015Prime Minister Tony Abbott's decision to dump his signature paid parental leave scheme opens the way for the government to implement major childcare changes laid out by the Productivity Commission that would simplify the system but possibly cut benefits for wealthier families...
Big end of town calls for baby levy to be thrown out with PPL
The Australian - Natasha Bita - February 3, 2015BIG business is urging the Abbott government to scrap its 1.5 per cent "baby tax", fearing companies will be forced to subsidise childcare costs. Tony Abbott yesterday dumped his expanded paid parental leave scheme, to have been funded through a $2.5 billion levy on the nation's...
$75,000 Childcare Bill Keeping Australian Women Out of Workforce
Bloomberg - Jason Scott - February 3, 2015As her five-year-old son started school last week, Sydney engineering consultant Mary Stewart counted the cost of his four years in childcare -- A$96,000 ($75,000) at A$126 a day. With a three-year-old daughter, she and her partner still face another two years of bills. The fees have left...
Looking after Australia's children
9News - February 2, 2015WHY IS CHILD CARE A BARBECUE STOPPER? Almost all kids under 12 have been in child care at some point - it's the norm for half of them. Only two in five Australian children under 12 are looked after solely by their parents. Child care is a major barrier to parents (usually mothers) returning...
We don't need more consultation, it's time to act on childcare
Sydney Morning Herald - Lisa Bryant - February 2, 2015Unbelievable! After a process which involved 468 initial submissions, a 90-page draft report, a 60-page technical modelling supplement, 455 post-draft submissions, 1100 brief comments via a website, eight public hearings in five cities which heard from 140 expert witnesses and three...
Childcare lobby tick for Scott Morrison quality stance
The Australian - Rick Morton - February 2, 2015QUALITY won’t be sacrificed in the pursuit of childcare savings despite the rebate contributing to the inflation of prices, according to a signal from new Social Services Minister Scott Morrison. Mr Morrison said he was committed to the framework that mandated teaching qualifications and...
Why the paid parental leave scheme is now off the table
Daily Telegraph - Tony Abbott - February 2, 2015BEFORE Christmas I said that, over the break, I'd be better targeting the proposed paid parental leave scheme and scaling it back, as part of a holistic families package focused on childcare. I admire stay-at-home mums - as Margie was when our children were young - but still firmly...
Childcare rebate scheme is failing, with big business facing 1.5 per cent tax levy to pay for reform
Daily Telegraph - Samantha Maiden - February 1, 2015CHILDCARE rebates face a shake up amid warnings the current system is as inflationary as the first home buyers scheme. In a stunning admission that the $7 billion-a-year scheme isn't working for parents or providers, Social Services Minister Scott Morrison has conceded that spending has...
RiAus director Dr Paul Willis says children whose parents refuse to vaccinate them should be isolated from others
The Advertiser - Elisa Black - January 31, 2015UNVACCINATED children should be segregated in facilities funded by their parents to protect the community from "unacceptable" health risks, one of the state's leading scientists says. RiAus director Dr Paul Willis has told the Sunday Mail that children whose parents refuse to vaccinate them...
Working families are back, with more cash coming
The Australian - Judith Sloan - January 31, 2015REMEMBER when working families were all the rage? Kevin Rudd couldn't get enough of working families and their woes. His aim was to relieve the pressures on them by providing even more tax benefits (including for older children) and even more childcare fee relief. And for working…
