Child Care News
Productivity Commission recommends single childcare subsidy to cover 'reasonable' childcare costs
NEWS.com.au - July 22, 2014CHILDCARE centres offering Zumba classes, European bed linen, iPads and access to occupational therapists could become more expensive under a major overhaul of childcare funding which would see subsidies paid for 'reasonable' childcare costs not additional 'premium services'. The...
Access to care the 'biggest issue' for mums
The Australian - Rick Morton - July 22, 2014LOUISE Bassett would have gone back to work much sooner after she had her son Benedict but instead had to wait 14 months for a one-day-a-week placement in Canberra. The 41-year-old public service manager now uses a motley arrangement of childcare options for her four-year-old just so
Call for paid childcare for 'qualified' grandparents: productivity commission
The Age - Miki Perkins - July 22, 2014Nannies and grandparents could be paid by the government to look after children if they get TAFE qualifications under a proposal to overhaul the nation's convoluted childcare system. The bewildering array of childcare subsidies should be replaced with a single, means-tested payment...
Nannying a career, not babysitting
The Age - Miki Perkins - July 22, 2014Sometimes Cecile Laing gets tired of people assuming she’s a babysitter as she ferries her young charges to school or swimming. Or gymnastics or karate or football. "I'm not. I'm a career nanny. I earn a salary like anyone else, I get sick days and holidays. I do lots of training to keep my skills...
Two children and nowhere to go
Sydney Morning Herald - Rachel Browne - July 22, 2014When Rushcutters Bay mother of two Chantelle Fields found out she was pregnant with her first child in 2011 she put her unborn daughter's name down on waiting lists with local childcare centres. More than three years later, she’s finally found a spot for Ava, now two and a half, for one day...
Federal government to set up a new task force to target childcare fraud
Daily Telegraph - Lauren Wilson - July 21, 2014A NEW crack team of kindergarten cops will investigate suspected rorting of taxpayer-funded childcare benefits. The federal government will set up a Childcare Payments Compliance Branch after a rise in suspicious claims for a range of childcare benefits and mounting evidence of...
Childcare review to call for one benefit
The Australian - Patricia Karvelas - July 21, 2014THE Productivity Commission will put on the agenda whether some of the money being spent on the new paid parental leave scheme be used instead towards expanding childcare options for working parents. The Australian understands the commission's draft report to be released tomorrow...
Federal Government proposal for taxpayer-funded at-home nannies
Sunday Telegraph - Samantha Maiden - July 20, 2014PARENTS will secure taxpayer-funded nannies at home under a government proposal to extend cash subsidies to qualified childcare workers for low and middle income families. Childcare Minister Sussan Ley has backed more choice for care in the family home, but only if the childcare workers…
New figures show income of parents goes backwards when children are in care
Sydney Morning Herald - Rachel Browne - July 20, 2014A woman on a low income with two children would lose almost her entire wage if she put her children in care in order to return to full-time work, according to new research. The study by the National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling was commissioned by non-profit childcare...
The ABC of holding them back
The Age - Craig Mathieson - July 20, 2014It used to be a simple question with a straightforward answer: at what age should a child enter prep and start primary school? Traditionally Victorian children went to kindergarten at age four, then put on their school uniform and started prep the following year when they almost or had just turned...
Senate committee calls on government to halt childcare budget cuts
The Australian - Patricia Karvelas - July 17, 2014A SENATE committee looking into childcare has called on the Abbott government to stop its budget cuts on childcare and to continue the national quality framework. The Education and Employment References Committee has handed down two reports, one on the delivery of quality and...
Childcare experts slam plan to restrict funding for vulnerable children
Sydney Morning Herald - Rachel Browne - July 14, 2014A proposal to restrict childcare subsidies for stay-at-home mothers has been slammed by children's advocates who say it will penalise vulnerable youngsters. The means-tested childcare benefit (CCB), which offers 24 hours a week of subsidised care regardless of whether a parent is working…
Family-sized daycare rip off bleeding taxpayers for millions
Courier Mail - Renee Viellaris - July 14, 2014FAMILY daycare providers will be targeted by the Abbott Government for gouging taxpayers millions of dollars. An internal government investigation has found assistance for low-income families is being rorted, with family daycare services charging the Government up to $100 an...
Nanny's not happy with 'ignorant' childcare union
The Australian - Rick Morton - July 14, 2014THE national childcare union has made disparaging, irresponsible remarks about nannies out of "ignorance" and a devotion to self-interest, says the country's peak nanny body. The union has also been slammed by its own supporters on a social media page it controls, for seeking to divide the...
Give working mums child care spots: Labor
Nine News - July 13, 2014Labor is urging the government to enforce existing child care guidelines to make sure children whose parents both work get priority access to places ahead of stay-at-home mothers. Assistant Minister for Education Sussan Ley says she's heard from many frustrated parents who can't find...
