Child Care News
Childcare sector growth outpaces checks
NEWS.com.au - August 7, 2014QUALITY assessments of childcare providers have a long way to go, while the sector continues to expand. THE latest national quality framework snapshot shows the number of childcare services grew nine per cent in the past year. In particular, the number of family daycare centres grew by...
Seek, REA among tomorrow's blue chip companies
Financial Review - Matthew Smith - August 7, 2014Andrew Mitchell, portfolio manager with small caps manager Ophir Asset Management, says he expects G8's growth prospects and blue-chip potential will be enhanced not only by the company's ability to grow within the segment through acquisition but also because of growth in the industry...
Productivity Commission into child care: Lowering qualification requirements for carers a 'bad idea'
ABC News - Andrea Mayes - August 7, 2014Reducing qualifications needed by child carers would be detrimental to children, the Productivity Commission inquiry into child care has been told. The commission last month released a draft report into child care and early childhood services, and is holding the first of a series of public...
Child care boom comes at a cost
The West Australian - Rhianna King - August 7, 2014The number of children in child care in WA has risen almost 40 per cent in six years, data to be released by the Federal Government today says. As of last September, 60,970 WA families were using child care with a total of 84,600 children in care - up 39.6 per cent from September 2007...
Grandparent bonds glue care system
The West Australian - Rhianna King and Grace Millimaci - August 7, 2014Grandparents are picking up the pieces of a broken childcare system and many are getting trapped into doing "more than is good for their lifestyle", according to a seniors group. One-quarter of Australian children under 12 are cared for by their grandparents, who have become a largely...
Folkestone trusts to grow portfolios
Financial Review - Larry Schlesinger - August 7, 2014The Folkestone Education Trust, which invests in the booming childcare sector, grew distributable income by 28.4 per cent to $24.4 million with a full-year distributions of 12¢ a unit. This was in line with guidance, and up 12 per cent on 2013. The fund also reduced operating...
Child care, not leave: working mums
The West Australian - Rhianna King - August 6, 2014Leading Perth businesswomen have urged Prime Minister Tony Abbott to reconsider his paid parental leave scheme and instead invest in Australia's outdated childcare system. The top executives have told of the challenges they and their colleagues faced in balancing careers with...
Tax disincentives for working mums should be removed
The Australian - Trish Jha - August 6, 2014OUR system of family benefits disadvantages women - but instead of coming up with expensive new schemes to mitigate these disadvantages, let's fix our existing policies. The Productivity Commission is correct - childcare is a wicked problem for mothers who want to work. But as the...
Report pushes single childcare subsidy
The West Australian - Rhianna King - August 6, 2014The days of parents receiving 50 per cent rebates for fees paid to "premium" childcare centres offering iPads, handcrafted cots, European bed linen and baby massages would be over under a proposal to change the rebate system. In its draft report last month, the Productivity Commission...
Bullying behaviour starting in children as young as age three
Herald Sun - Wes Hosking - August 5, 2014CHILDREN aged as young as three are being identified as bullies amid concern many childcare centres and kindergartens aren't doing enough to stamp out the problem. A major anti-bullying conference in Melbourne on Wednesday will be told more work is needed to stop youngsters..
Chemical that caused Clovelly Park evacuation found in vapour form at Hendon child care centre
The Advertiser - Brad Crouch - August 5, 2014TOXIC chemicals found in groundwater at Hendon and vapours seeping into a child care centre pose "no risk" according to officials, but they will conduct further testing. More than 3000 residents in the Hendon/Albert Park/Seaton/Royal Park area are being alerted today by a letterbox...
City childcare set to cost more
The Australian - Patricia Karvelas - August 5, 2014INNER-city families spending more than $100 a day on childcare fees are likely to be worse off under the Productivity Commission's preferred new model. The commission wants to replace the present scheme with a new early care and learning subsidy, paid directly to childcare centres...
Low pay takes a toll on workers
The West Australian - Rhianna King - August 5, 2014They educate and care for our most precious assets but childcare workers are paid more than $22,000 below the average yearly wage. As regulations are rolled out to increase the formal qualifications of the workforce, early childhood education and care workers say they are far more...
'Vulnerable' China a threat to stability
The Australian - Paul Garvey - August 5, 2014"The big difference between Scandinavia, where there are a lot of women in the labour force and in senior positions, and other European countries where there aren't, is the state provision of very good childcare," he said. "It becomes a matter of norm that married women and women with...
Families say childcare cuts could cost them thousands of dollars in extra fees
Herald Sun - Kylie Adoranti - August 5, 2014A $1700 annual hike in fees for each child in full-time family daycare will put the childcare system in jeopardy, service operators and councils say. They claim many mums and dads say parents will be left in an impossible position, facing soaring fees and possibly the closure of local services...
