Child Care News
NSW government announces report card for four-year-olds
Sydney Morning Herald - Eryk Bagshaw - September 10, 2014The NSW government has announced a state-wide report card for preschoolers that will enable kindergarten teachers to preview children coming into their classrooms. But parents and teachers remain concerned over the funding of early childhood education and the amount of children not...
Darwin childcare provider Goodstart wants parents to keep children at home amid staff shortages
ABC News - Rick Hind - September 10, 2014A Top End childcare provider that operates 10 centres across Darwin has asked parents to keep children at home if they can as it struggles to fill chronic staff shortages. Goodstart Early Learning Darwin sent a letter to parents on Tuesday making the request as it tries to fill 17 permanent...
Childcare centres blacklist accredited training organisations providing poor graduates
ABC News - Alison Branley and Norman Hermant - September 10, 2014Childcare centres have started unofficial blacklists of training providers they will not use because graduate quality is so poor. There has been an explosion in the number of trainers offering Certificate IIIs and diplomas in childcare after the Government made qualifications mandatory. Childcare...
Time for right policy to lift jobs market
The Australian - John Durie - September 10, 2014She said Canada had managed to significantly increase female membership in the workforce through subsidised childcare and lower tax rates. Australia had increased investment in childcare but had not addressed costs, she said. Some 46 per cent of working women in Australia did part-time work...
Put vulnerable kids before nanny subsidies, Goodstart Early Learning declares
The Australian - Patricia Karvelas - September 10, 2014CHILDCARE reform should focus on prioritising vulnerable children and giving them greater access to early learning, ahead of subsidies to high-income families to employ nannies, the nation's biggest provider says. In its submission to the Productivity Commission, Goodstart Early Learning has...
More attention needed for before and after-school care: National Foundation for Australian Women
Sydney Morning Herald - Judith Ireland - September 9, 2014Improving before and after-school care and holiday programs could be the most efficient and effective way of helping more women re-enter the workforce, the National Foundation for Australian Women says. With current policy debates firmly focused on paid parental leave and care for small children...
Review of family payments needed for more bang for buck
Financial Review - Ben Potter - September 9, 2014The Productivity Commission has failed to consider the $7 billion childcare funding system broadly enough to get value for taxpayers' money, experts said. The Productivity Commission has -proposed a shake-up of childcare funding - which is growing rapidly, increasingly reimbursing higher income...
Au pairs not the answer to childcare crisis, say nannies
The Australian - Patricia Karvelas - September 9, 2014AU pairs are not the answer to the childcare crisis and calls for them to be allowed to stay in Australia for up to a year should be ignored, the Australian Nannies Association says. The group says au pairs should not be entrusted with the full-time care of children, but instead be used solely for before...
$400m brawl over childcare: Doubts over preschool subsidy
Daily Telegraph - Matthew Benns - September 9, 2014NSW's reluctance to commit to the new terms of a $400 million national partnership deal with the federal government could cost battling Sydney parents two days of preschool subsidised by the Commonwealth. Under the extension to an existing deal, the federal government would provide a...
Think seeks to raise $22m for IPO
Financial Review - Sarah Thompson, Anthony Macdonald and Jake Mitchell - September 9, 2014Think Childcare and Education is seeking to raise $22 million for an initial public offering scheduled for next month. The childcare centre operator has appointed Morgans and Patersons Securities to run the float, which will value the company at $40 million. The share price of $1 reflects a forward price to...
Abbott open to more flexible childcare
The Australian - September 7, 2014PRIME Minister Tony Abbott says his government will seriously consider any Productivity Commission recommendation to help more parents hire nannies. A 50 per cent rebate is already available for family day care providers who look after children in the childcare worker's home, but the same...
Activity test: Working mums may lose cheap childcare
Herald Sun - Lauren Wilson - September 7, 2014UP to one in six working mums could be denied cheap childcare under a proposal to limit taxpayer-funded subsidies to parents who are working or studying for at least 24 hours a fortnight. Australia's largest childcare provider, Goodstart Early Learning, will tell the Productivity Commission's inquiry...
More poor NSW families locked out of childcare
Sydney Morning Herald - Kirsty Needham - September 7, 2014Soaring childcare costs and long waiting lists are locking out the poorest NSW families at a far higher rate than the rest of Australia. Only 2 per cent of the poorest NSW families are using childcare to get mothers back into the workforce, compared to 22 per cent of the poorest households nationally...
Father's Day: They need more support
Sydney Morning Herald - September 7, 2014Our workplaces, welfare policies, and inadequate childcare encourage this gender imbalance by making the male main breadwinner, part-time working mother the most practical and financially sustainable model for raising a family in Australia, despite evidence showing many men are...
Tax cuts and childcare reform on the agenda as Prime Minister Tony Abbott marks first anniversary
Sunday Telegraph - Samantha Maiden - September 7, 2014TAX cuts and childcare reform are on Tony Abbott's agenda as he marks the first anniversary of his election as Prime Minister. Vowing his tough budget will deliver future dividends, Mr Abbott has pledged to "do even better for the next year". In an exclusive interview with The Sunday Telegraph...
