Child Care News
Affinity Education gets 'overweight' rating from CBA
Financial Review - Sarah Thompson - January 16, 2014CBA Institutional Equities has started coverage on Affinity Education with an "overweight" recommendation and $1.60 price target, and expects the childcare provider to be a hungry acquirer in coming years. CBA, which floated Affinity at $1 a share in December, said the company had...
Learning in the early years
The Age - Catriona May - January 13, 2014Two major studies into early childhood programs underway in the Melbourne Graduate School of Education are confirming the importance of providing high quality learning experiences for disadvantaged children. "There's a real opportunity, especially if we start as early as possible...
Slash family tax benefit for more childcare help, says Business Council of Australia
The Australian - Patricia Karvelas - January 11, 2014THE nation's peak business group has told the Productivity Commission to overhaul the childcare system by spending more money on assistance to help parents work and less on family tax benefits. In a submission to the Productivity Commission inquiry set up by the Abbott government...
After-school care warning
The West Australian - Rhianna King - January 11, 2014Children could be left to "roam the streets" because of a shortage of after-school care in Perth, the WA Primary Principals Association has warned. Demand for before and after-school care is rocketing, prompting calls for more on-site services at primary schools. Only a fifth of WA State...
New laws in NSW seek to strengthen disease prevention at childcare
Sydney Morning Herald - Catherine Armitage - January 11, 2014Get ready for illness. That is the advice to families starting their infants in childcare over the next few weeks. Jemma Carlisle, general manager of four daycare centres serving 450 families at the University of NSW, warns parents that even at centres that emphasise best practice hygiene...
Vaccine objectors rise as parents skirt 'no jab, no play' law
Sydney Morning Herald - Cindy Ngo - January 11, 2014Conscientious objection to childhood immunisation is on the rise as parents exploit a loophole in the new "no jab, no play" law that allows unvaccinated children to be enrolled in childcare centres. The federal Health Department says 3910 parents across Australia lodged a conscientious objection...
Man arrested for sex abuse of child at wife's day care centre
Sydney Morning Herald - Letitia Rowlands - January 10, 2014A child attending a family day care centre has been sexually assaulted by the husband of the woman running the centre at the couple's Sydney home, police allege. The 59-year-old alleged attacker was arrested on Christmas Eve and charged with the aggravated sexual assault of a...
Dad writes honest and hilarious answers on daycare form for his baby daughter
NEWS.com.au - January 10, 2014FILLING out forms is the world's most boring task. So when this father was asked to complete a complex daycare personality survey for his 11-month-old daughter, he decided to have some fun. Note: if you're a parent of young children this will either be the funniest thing you've read, or a...
Childcare centres hit as school changes mean only one intake in Reception from 2014
The Advertiser - Jordanna Schriever - January 5, 2014PARENTS will have to delay returning to work or keep their children in childcare longer because of an overhaul to school enrolments beginning this year. Childcare centres are restructuring rooms and reviewing staffing levels as children stay in childcare and kindergarten longer because...
Boys are born to prefer dolls over masculine toys like cars
Sydney Morning Herald - Lucy Marks - January 5, 2014Childcare professionals say gendered choices are definitely learnt - and most young boys enjoy playing with dolls. Aria Adams-Wilcox, of Belrose Children's Centre in Warringah, said boys and girls played social games around the age of two and all played different gendered roles...
Mums lost ground under Rudd
The Australian - Rick Morton - January 4, 2014WORKING mothers in their early 30s were some of the hardest slugged during the Labor years as workforce participation faltered due to historical employment barriers and bungled labour policies. Women aged 35-44 were particularly affected by underemployment that was at 7.8 per cent last...
Is it okay to send your kids to daycare while you're on holidays?
Essential Baby - Letitia Rowlands - January 3, 2014A whole day to herself - it's the stuff of dreams for mums everywhere, working, stay-at-home or otherwise. But mothers who drop their children at childcare while they are on holidays from work themselves are often criticised and shouldered with yet another form of mother guilt. One friend...
No jab, no play policy is now a reality across NSW
Daily Telegraph - Jane Hansen - January 2, 2014THE state's new laws aimed at raising immunisation rates have now come into effect in childcare centres across NSW. As of January 1, a child cannot be enrolled at a childcare facility unless the parent or guardian provides an official record proving the child is fully immunised or an approved...
NSW workers comp changes for 2014
The Australian - December 30, 2013INJURED workers and children attending childcare will be among the winners and losers at the start of 2014, as new laws kick in across NSW. Among the raft of new legislation to come into effect on January 1 are controversial changes to workers compensation introduced by the O'Farrell...
ACT families pay nation's costliest childcare
Canberra Times - Megan Doherty - December 30, 2013Canberra families are paying a greater proportion of their income on childcare fees than those anywhere else in Australia as local centres approach or break the $100-a-day fee barrier. A report by the federal government found no matter what the income level, Canberra families were paying...
