Child Care News
Tony Abbott's get out of jail free card on PPL
The Australian - Patricia Karvelas - July 26, 2014Childcare is the burning issue that remains the Prime Minister's biggest social policy challenge this term. It is the test he himself set when he first floated the idea taxpayers should fund nannies for modern families working around the clock. Childcare is the modern barbecue stopper and...
Eventual saving in childcare reforms
The Australian - Patricia Karvelas - July 26, 2014THE Productivity Commission has vowed to rein in the ballooning cost of childcare, arguing that the new "deemed" cost model it has proposed will save taxpayers significant money in the long term. This is despite the commission report, released this week, suggesting childcare spending increase...
Childcare fees v mum’s working future: why it’s no laughing matter
The Australian - Natasha Bita - July 26, 2014BUSINESSWOMAN Tara Platell counts the true cost of childcare in terms of her career. A year-long waiting list for daycare was the last straw for the busy mother of two, who sold her real estate business in May to stay home with the kids when "it just got too much". Three-year-old son...
Backing for $300-a-week au pairs over $800 nannies
Financial Review - Joanna Mather - July 26, 2014The Siregars have churned through nine au pairs in four years. Indonesian-born Sherly Siregar pays just over $300 a week for up to 45 hours of care by a German au pair who lives with the family in Caulfield North in Melbourne. That figure includes a fee for an au pair agency and a...
Opinion: Productivity Commission gives Tony Abbott chance to rethink parental leave scheme
Courier Mail - Paul Syvret - July 26, 2014THE Productivity Commission has delivered Prime Minister Tony Abbott a "get out of jail free" card when it comes to substantially modifying (or preferably ditching) his controversial paid parental leave scheme. The Commission's report into Childcare and Early Childhood Education (CECE)...
The granny nannies: it's a labour of love, not money
Sydney Morning Herald - Harriet Alexander - July 26, 2014The army that powers the nation's workforce by taking care of its young is not so much devoted to duty, for the most part, as it is devoted to grandchildren. I do it for me… I absolutely love it. Susie Balderstone begins her pilgrimage in the dark, rising before 5am at her home in MacMasters…
New app lets parents know whether the kids are all right
Sydney Morning Herald - Rachel Browne - July 26, 2014When Matthew Whisker picks his children up from their north shore childcare centre he doesn’t automatically have to ask how their day went - he already knows. The Neutral Bay father has an app which alerts him to the daily activities and achievements of his children Harry, 11 months...
Richard Glover's guide to raising babies
Sydney Morning Herald - July 25, 2014The government, we've learned this week, might be willing to pay for at-home childcare from qualified people - so why shouldn't parents themselves be eligible? Sure, we'll need to take the requisite TAFE course, but the basic information can't be that hard to master. Here's a quick...
Childcare training scam uncovered in Vic
NEWS.com.au - July 25, 2014A SCAM in which migrant women paid up to $3000, and studied for up to a year, only to be handed fake childcare qualifications has been uncovered in Melbourne. UP to 100 women are thought to have received fake Diploma in Children''s Services qualifications in the scam, which ran from...
Nannies better off at fast-food outlet
The Examiner - Isabel Bird - July 25, 2014NANNIES are heralded as the future of affordable and quality childcare yet questions are raised about who will fill these roles when childcare workers are the least paid in the country. The Productivity Commission's draft report into Childcare and Early Learning recommended that...
Parliamentary childcare closure threat blamed on communication breakdown
Canberra Times - Primrose Riordan - July 24, 2014Anglicare has agreed to continue providing childcare at Parliament House until the end of the year after a communication "breakdown" was blamed for this week's threat to close the service. Meetings on Thursday between Anglicare, the Department of Parliamentary Services and...
Working Australian mums struggle to find childcare, national survey reveals
Herald Sun - Jessica Marszalek - July 23, 2014HALF of working women say difficulty finding childcare "always" impacts on their ability to go to work, according to a national survey. The Greens' annual childcare questionnaire this year found difficulties were on the rise, and one in five women at least "sometimes" found it a problem...
The costly day to day of daycare
Financial Review - Jennifer Hewett - July 24, 2014Yet despite what the Productivity Commission calls the "ballooning" cost to taxpayers, out-of-pocket costs for child care are 27 per cent of the average wage and families, on average, pay 37 per cent of their child care fees. Assuming they can even find childcare. Many families rely on relatives to...
Childcare tax perks defended
Financial Review - Nassim Khadem - July 24, 2014Companies and their advisers have urged the Abbott government to reject a Productivity Commission recommendation to abolish tax breaks for employer-provided childcare. Employers can access fringe benefits tax exemptions for providing staff with in-house childcare, while non-...
Parliamentary babies may be out in the cold as childcare centre set to close
Canberra Times - Primrose Riordan and Noel Towell - July 23, 2014New paid parking laws, security restrictions, and requirements for casual places for MPs are being blamed for the potential closure of childcare services at Parliament House. Parents have met at "Aussies" cafe inside the building on Wednesday in shock after the childcare provider, Anglicare...
