Child Care News
The real cost of childcare
Financial Review - Andrew Podger - June 25, 2014Caring for young children is perhaps society's most critical responsibility. It also costs a lot, however families choose to arrange the care. If only public policy on childcare, family assistance and paid parental leave focused on these two points. The NATSEM paper released this week...
Why federal government subsidies for childcare only add to price pressures
NEWS.com.au - Jessica Irvine - June 25, 2014CRITICS of Tony Abbott's parental leave scheme argue the money would be better spent on childcare. More money for childcare! What feminist could possibly object to that? Unfortunately, it turns out that simply throwing more money at the problem is no solution at all. An excellent...
Renewed investor interest in childcare centres
The Age - Simon Johanson - June 25, 2014Childcare centres are again in the sights of investors six years after the $1 billion collapse of entrepeneur Eddy Groves' ABC Learning sent shudders through the sector. The aggressive expansion of Australia's largest listed childcare operator G8 Education and other players in the...
All options on the table for review of Labor's childcare reforms
The Australian - Patricia Karvelas - June 24, 2014A REVIEW of the National Quality Framework - introduced by the previous Labor government to lift standards at the nation's childcare centres - will consider "all options", including delaying -reforms. The childcare industry had hoped the review would largely look at red tape and leave the timing...
Are subsidies the reason the cost of childcare is soaring?
Women's Agenda - Samantha Page - June 24, 2014Early childhood education and care must be both high quality and affordable if we are to achieve the dual objective of supporting women's participation in the workforce and amplifying children's development for long-term educational and productivity benefits. We should not have to choose...
Govt passes one saving, postpones another
Brisbane Times - June 23, 2014The Abbott government has had to temporarily ditch one childcare-related budget savings measure to get another through parliament. The coalition wants to continue a pause on the childcare rebate of $7500 a child a year, as well as freeze childcare benefit income thresholds. Labor agrees with...
Sussan Ley: Mums must have say in work return
The Border Mail - Natalie Kotsios - June 23, 2014STAY-at-home mums should be able to return to work "when it suited their circumstances", assistant Minister for Education Sussan Ley has said. Ms Ley was responding to data released at the weekend that showed childcare costs have increased 150 per cent in a decade, hitting the...
Babysitting children with smartphones, tablets stunts our kids' speech
The Advertiser - Tim Williams - June 22, 2014MORE children are starting school with serious speech problems because parents relying on smartphones and iPads as "babysitting" tools are allowing excessive use, education leaders have warned. Up to one in eight children in some preschool and Reception classes need speech...
Childcare Affordability report: Some mums return to work for $3.44 an hour
Daily Telegraph - Lauren Wilson - June 22, 2014SOME Aussie mums are working for as little as $3.44 an hour when they return to full-time work after having children. A new report out today into the soaring costs of childcare in Australia has revealed some full-time working mums are pocketing less than $5 an hour, the equivalent of…
Childcare is crucial to Prime Minister Tony Abbott's paid parental leave reforms
Sydney Morning Herald - June 21, 2014It is good to see Prime Minister Tony Abbott starting to swallow his pride in one important area: paid parental leave. The Herald welcomes Mr Abbott's recognition this week that budget matters must take priority over his scheme, which is due to begin in 2015. "There's quite a lot of time to...
Just 17 per cent of mums are back in full-time work by baby's first birthday
Daily Telegraph - Claire Harvey & Jane Hansen - June 21, 2014JUGGLING work and a baby is just not worth it financially, according to the majority of new mums. By the time their babies turn one, just 17 per cent of mothers are back in full-time work and another 33 per cent are in part-time work. The results come from interviews conducted for a...
$150m child care sell-off
Business News Western Australia - Mark Beyer - June 19, 2014A major shake-up in the national child care industry has resulted in the owners of five Western Australian groups reaping an estimated $150 million from the sale of their businesses this year. The buyers have been ASX-listed companies G8 Education, which has purchased 68 WA centres this...
Labor and Greens set to block Coalition plans to freeze child care benefits
Sydney Morning Herald - Lsa Cox - June 18, 2014The Abbott government is facing fresh troubles to pass budget savings measures, with Labor and the Greens threatening to block plans to freeze childcare benefit income thresholds. The government wants to freeze the level of family income at which the maximum child care subsidy...
Employee accused of smacking two-year-old child wins unfair dismissal case
Smart Company - Andrew Sadauskas - June 18, 2014A childcare centre that dismissed an employee following an accusation the staff member smacked a two-year-old child has lost an unfair dismissal case. On November 7, 2013, the Children First Blacktown Road Children's Centre in Blacktown, NSW, received a complaint from a parent...
Man found guilty of day-care centre abuses wins retrial
The Age - Mark Russell - June 18, 2014A man jailed for preying on three children at a family day-care centre run by his wife at their home has won a retrial. The man had been found guilty of 15 charges of committing an indecent act with a child under 16 and acquitted of one similar charge after a County Court trial and was jailed...
