Child Care News
First three years crucial in a child's life: childcare hearing told
The Age - Miki Perkins - August 18, 2014The first three years of a child's life are the period of greatest developmental plasticity, and disruption at this age can have lifelong consequences to their physical or mental health, medical experts have told a hearing into the future of childcare in Australia. "It's no longer appropriate or...
G8 Education issues debt securities offshore
Financial Review - Sarah Thompson, Anthony Macdonald and Gretchen Friemann - August 18, 2014G8 Education has dispelled any thoughts it may be about to launch an equity raising, instead opting for an offshore issue of debt securities. Eyebrows were raised when G8 accelerated its half-year results last week, timing the announcement with news it had scooped up another 25 childcare...
Stay-at-home mums to keep childcare right
The Australian - Natasha Bita - August 18, 2014CHEAP childcare for stay-at-home parents is likely to be rationed but not cut off entirely, after Assistant Education Minister Sussan Ley declared daycare important for children's socialisation and learning. The Productivity Commission recommended the federal government restrict subsidised...
Childcare tax rules too complex
Financial Review - Kelly O'Dwyer - August 18, 2014What is holding back mothers who want to work from re-entering the workforce or working extra days after having children? Ask most Australians, and the most likely answer you'll get is childcare. Or, to be more specific, the availability of quality, affordable and flexible childcare. That's part of...
Hundreds of childcare workers underpaid
The Age - Nick Toscano - August 18, 2014Hundreds of Australia's lowest-paid workers have been ripped off by two childcare centre operators in Melbourne and Perth. An investigation by the federal workplace watchdog has discovered that 114 minimum wage-earning childcare workers at Melbourne's Wonderkindy centres were denied...
Garden guru Wes Fleming gives kindergarten play areas a makeover
The Age - Miki Perkins - August 18, 2014Last year Fleming joined with early childhood researchers at Deakin University to transform a "concrete prison"-style playground at the Eumemmerring Early Childhood Centre. Donating plants and landscaping expertise, his nursery turned a bland area dotted with uninspiring plastic toys...
Reforms mean more funding for NSW children with disability
Northern Star - August 17, 2014NEW South Wales children living with disability in regional and rural areas of the state will be given more support to attend community preschool under a suite of new reforms. The Preschool Disability Support Program, announced on Sunday, will see $17 million made available to community...
Education: Online course allows early childhhood teacher to keep learning
Sydney Morning Herald - Kristie Kellahan - August 16, 2014Careers in pre-school education are set to soar in the next five years, according to a recent survey by IBISWorld. A predicted 6.8 per cent increase in jobs in the industry will create demand for more highly skilled educators. Torrens University Australia, along with other national tertiary institutions…
Childcare reforms would still punish mothers who work too much
Sydney Morning Herald - Anna Patty and Rachel Browne - August 16, 1014Mothers who work more than two days a week will continue to be punished economically despite the Productivity Commission's aim to improve their participation in the labour force. The federal government has tasked the Productivity Commission with devising a plan to improve Australia's…
Pre-school funding agreement on agenda for education ministers' meeting
The Australian - Patricia Karvelas - August 15, 2014FEDERAL Assistant Education Minister Sussan Ley will push for the funding agreement between the states and the commonwealth to be advanced at today's education ministers meeting, in an attempt to address concerns that 15 hours of preschool for four-year-olds is fully funded next year…
A government that fails to marshal its thoughts
Financial Review - Laura Tingle - August 15, 2014Childcare has snuck up on us as a new "entitlement" in the past few decades that now sees governments meeting two-thirds of total costs, without the community ever having a real debate about what the community benefits - as opposed to the benefits to individual families - might be...
Childcare experts react angrily to Productivity Commission proposals
Sydney Morning Herald - Rachel Browne - August 14, 2014Children will struggle to meet their learning potential if a proposal to water down educational standards in early childhood is adopted, experts warn. As part of its inquiry into creating a more sustainable childcare system, the Productivity Commission recommended lowering qualifications...
Women earn less than men as gender gap grows
NEWS.com.au - August 14, 2014Ms Broderick said more needed to be done to maximise women's workforce participation, including through childcare and anti-discrimination policies. "We need to take some bold measures, and we also need to get the fundamentals right," she said. "This is not acceptable". Assistant Minister…
Childcare boost faces Senate veto
The Australian - David Crowe and Sarah Elks - August 14, 2014THE federal government is facing another veto on major policy as senators warn against boosting childcare funding as part of any overhaul of Tony Abbott's paid parental leave scheme, adding to frustrations over the budget. The government is being warned against the childcare boost as it...
Fight for quality early childhood education
The Australian - Patricia Karvelas - August 14, 2014MORE than 25 community and private childcare owners and operators have banded together to fight against any watering down of education standards in centres as part of a push to address affordability concerns. The Early Learning Coalition, to be launched today, will demand a renewed...
