Child Care News
The false choice of quality vs cost in early childhood education
The Conversation - Myfanwy McDonald - February 26, 2014The Productivity Commission is undertaking an inquiry into childcare and early learning. In a recent Issues Paper the commission suggests that there is an "inherent trade-off" between affordability and quality in early childhood education and care services. The implications of "trading" quality...
Women disappearing from corporate workforce 'due to childcare cost'
The Guardian - Anne Barrowclough - February 25, 2014The Australian chief executive of Goldman Sachs has called for a national debate on childcare costs to stem a flood of women leaving the corporate workforce. Simon Rothery is one of a number of senior executives and CEOs who are so concerned at the number of women fleeing the corporate...
Coalition resists equal pay claim
The Australian - Ewin Hannan and Patricia Karvelas - February 25, 2014THE Abbott government has moved to limit pay rises being sought by childcare workers, warning the granting of their unions' equal pay claim could flow to industries unable to afford wage increases significantly above the award rate. The government has told the Fair Work Commission...
Chronic shortage of childcare places stops many Melbourne mothers from returning to workforce, Leader survey finds
Herald Sun - Rebecca David and Kylie Adoranti - February 25, 2014MORE than half of the parents who participated in a Leader survey say there is a lack of childcare services in their area. About 65 per cent of respondents said there were not enough childcare centres close by and 73 per cent said they had experienced a shortage of available places...
'English not needed for a job with kids'
The Australian - Natasha Bita - February 24, 2014TRAINING colleges are under investigation for pocketing taxpayer subsidies to churn out childcare workers who cannot speak English and have never set foot in a daycare centre. Some colleges are offering six-week "quickie courses" in a Certificate III that is designed to take six months to...
Care location key when focus is a feed for babies
The Australian - Patricia Karvelas - February 24, 2014WHEN babies want to be fed at the childcare centre at La Trobe University in Melbourne, the educators often dial mums who are working or studying on campus and suggest they come in as soon as they can take a break and feed their infants. It's a model that can only work when...
Care For Kids recommends apprenticeship scheme for childcare workers
The Age - Rachel Browne - February 24, 2014Childcare workers upgrading their qualifications would have their tuition fees covered under an apprenticeship scheme to ease the chronic skills shortage in the sector, according to a recommendation by a leading industry group, Care For Kids. Providers are still struggling to meet...
Desperate parents demand national ban on childcare waiting list fees
Daily Telegraph - Samantha Maiden - February 23, 2014PARENTS have demanded a national ban on childcare waiting list fees as operators gouge families of hundreds of dollars simply to put their name down for a place. As desperate families seek childcare for babies and toddlers, traditionally the area of greatest shortage, some parents are...
Brindabella Christian College in call to fund school childcare services
Canberra Times - Peter Jean - February 22, 2014Public and independent schools would receive government funding to offer childcare services for young children, under a proposal floated by Canberra's Brindabella Christian College. The college has urged the Productivity Commission to recommend that governments extend funding to...
Stay-home mums productive too
The Australian - February 22, 2014THERE is an inquiry into childcare, and all sorts of hare-brained ideas have been floated - from HECS-style loans to subsidies for nannies and grandparents. As the prospective grandmother of twins, I couldn't help thinking perhaps one might have some merit; however, the idea that...
G8 bond issue breathes new life into mid-cap market
The Australian - Liz Moran - February 22, 2014DEVELOPMENT of the mid-corporate, unrated bond market continued this week with FIIG Securities, my own organisation, launching its second corporate bond issue on behalf of childcare group G8 Education Limited (GEM). The issue aimed to raise $50 million and was oversubscribed, a healthy...
Pace of reform has slowed: OECD
Brisbane Times - Colin Brinsden - February 21, 2014It has also called for childcare support reforms to account for the high cost of pre-primary education and to encourage parents'' labour force participation. However, it said the only notable reforms in these areas over the past two years was an extension of childcare education to all children...
Childcare plan a trap for families
The Australian - February 21, 2014WOMEN will be forced into debt and discouraged from working according to Labor, feminists and the childcare sector, who strongly oppose a business group's proposal for HECS-style loans for childcare fees. The Abbott government also has refused to rule out letting foreign nannies in on...
Qld strategy to boost immunisation rates
Courier Mail - February 19, 2014UNVACCINATED children in Queensland may be banned from child care centres in a bid to boost immunisation rates. Queensland's Health Minister Lawrence Springborg says the government hasn't ruled out the measure as it prepares to introduce a major immunisation strategy. NSW has...
Children to be prepared for earlier start to school life under bold new education plan
Courier Mail - Tanya Chilcott and Sarah Vogler - February 19, 2014SCHOOLS will play a greater role in what is being taught in kindergartens and childcare centres under a radical State Government overhaul designed to better prepare children for the classroom. For the first time, principals will become responsible for making sure children as young as three...
