Child Care News

TAFE Illawarra and Big Fat Smile childcare centres form partnership
Illawarra Mercury - Brianna Parkins - January 14, 2014

TAFE Illawarra and Big Fat Smile childcare centres have formalised a partnership to meet childcare skills shortages not only in the Illawarra but as far away as China. In a memorandum of understanding, TAFE Illawarra childcare students will complete work placements at Big Fat Smile...

Back to work: Long hot summer holidays cost families dear
Sydney Morning Herald - Sylvia Pennington - January 13, 2014

The vacation care program attracts a Child Care Rebate, Markham says, which makes it more cost-effective than a nanny or babysitter, for which there are no government subsidies. The rebate covers 50 per cent of out-of-pocket childcare expenses. Other options for holiday care include...

Susie O'Brien: Every child deserves to be vaccinated
Herald Sun - January 12, 2014

The Andrews Government has committed to introduce a "No Jab, No Play" policy in childcare centres, requiring all children to be fully immunised before they can enrol. But why not extend this to schools and kinders as well? Just one unvaccinated kid puts the health of every other child at...

Labor's 'Being There' tips on budget aren't plausible
The Australian - Judith Sloane - January 13, 2015

This analysis destroys the popular political narrative promoted by the states and the opposition about savage budget cuts, confirming instead that spending on schools, hospitals and childcare is set to rise substantially for years to come. With revenue growth failing to keep pace, the PBO...

$14bn spending rise punctures 'cuts' rhetoric
The Australian - David Crowe - January 12, 2015

A SURGE in government spending has reignited the fight over the need for budget savings, as a new report outlines a $14 billion jump in outlays in key areas, including welfare bonuses, childcare and family tax benefits. The independent analysis highlights the danger of stronger spending...

Federal government to take a back seat in education?
The Conversation - Bronwyn Hinz - January 8, 2014

The paper identifies the disconnect between stand-alone kindergartens (managed and funded by states and local governments), and kindergarten programs in formal daycare settings (which are mostly funded by the Commonwealth through childcare funding). Confusing matters...

Doctors want to bar anti-vaccination campaigner Sherri Tenpenny
The Age - Julia Medew - January 7, 2014

It comes as the Victorian Government plans to introduce a "no jab, no play" rule for entry to childcare to protect children from preventable diseases. Under the policy, unvaccinated children will not be able to enrol in childcare unless they have an approved exemption for a medical reason…

Nursery staff to be forced to report toddlers at risk of becoming terrorists
The Independent (UK) - Ben Tufft - January 4, 2014

Nursery staff will be forced to report toddlers at risk of becoming terrorists under plans drawn up by the Home Office. It is part of the department's consultation over ways to enhance its anti-terrorism strategy, Prevent. Critics have dismissed the proposals as being unnecessarily draconian…

Property stocks set to surge further in 2015 on low interest tide
Financial Review - Larry Schlesinger - January 6, 2015

The favourable outlook for the childcare sector and the increasing appeal of childcare centres as high-yield, low-risk property investments drove up the share price of the two biggest listed childcare landlords, the Folkestone Education Trust and Arena REIT...

Support, childcare needed for mothers of kids with intellectual disability
Science Network Western Australia - Michelle Wheeler - January 3, 2015

EXTRA support, education and childcare services are needed to address a high rate of mental health problems in mothers of children with intellectual disabilities, research suggests. A study of WA women who gave birth between 1983 and 2005 found those who had a child with a mild intellectual…

Opinion: Tony Abbott to spend summer break contemplating how to move forward his government's agenda
The Courier-Mail - Steven Scott - January 3, 2015

Abbott has set himself a deadline of the end of the summer to come up with a new "comprehensive families package" to help with the number one complaint of working parents - the cost and availability of child care. The help could come in the form of higher rebates or subsidies for a wider range…

Japan turns to Supermums to revive the economy
Sydney Morning Herald - Jonathan Soble - January 2, 2015

In a country where juggling work and family has long been especially difficult, Abe has pledged to ease the way for women like Kitajima, with more state-funded child care and other measures to foster "a society where all women shine." Tackling the nation's shrinking population and declining labor...

Cabinet papers 1988-89: Hawke rejected well-off subsidised childcare ban
The Australian - Natasha Bita - January 1, 2015

BAN on well-off families and stay-at-home parents using cheap childcare centres was rejected by the Hawke cabinet for fear it would "segregate" poorer children. The Labor government in 1988 was agonising over the very same childcare policy dilemmas that face the Abbott administration...

'Means-test childcare fees', say childcare operators
The Australian - Rick Moreton - December 29, 2014

CHILDCARE operators are calling for a means test of the childcare rebate after revelations fees would rise by at least 30 per cent over the next four years. Social Services Minister Scott Morrison yesterday said the government would not be "bullied" into making snap decisions about a solution…

Barnardos Australia claims proposed overhaul of the early childhood system could see vulnerable children moved into foster care
NEWS.com.au - December 29, 2014

THE federal government has been warned a proposed overhaul of the early childhood system could inadvertently lead to a greater number of vulnerable children being placed into foster care. Barnardos Australia has told a Senate inquiry into out of home care arrangements that the Productivity...