Child Care News
Some operators say running a family daycare centre will become financially unviable
The Australian - Patricia Karvelas - November 6, 2013FAMILY daycare centres, where carers run small operations in their own homes, will close down unless the child-to-staff ratios imposed by the previous Labor government are revisited, the new Assistant Education Minister has warned. In a speech to the sector delivered last week, Sussan...
Work perks replace pay rises
Financial Review - Lucille Keen - November 5, 2013Childcare, gym memberships and discounted movie tickets are just some of the perks Australia’s top companies are offering staff as the chance of a pay rise continues to look like a thing of the past. Many businesses have stopped rewarding staff with annual bonuses because of the decline...
Former Adelaide Thinker in Residence Professor Carla Rinaldi says we should rename kindy, childcare as school
NEWS.com.au - November 4, 2013ALL places where children learn - including kindergartens and childcare centres - should be renamed and recognised as schools, a new report recommends. Former Adelaide Thinker in Residence Professor Carla Rinaldi today releases her report, Re-imagining Childhood: The...
Literacy rates affecting workers' competence, AI Group finds, with early childhood reading key
ABC News - Katie Hamann - November 4, 2013Australian companies are reporting an alarming deterioration in levels of worker literacy and numeracy. Education specialists say efforts to improve literacy levels at primary and high school are important, but that encouraging children to embrace books and learning should begin in...
CBA Equities shows off new childcare roll-up Affinity
Financial Review - Sarah Thompson, Anthony Macdonald and Gretchen Friemann - November 2, 2013Small cap darling G8 Education's stellar run has another childcare roll-up, Affinity Education, preparing for a $77 million equity raising this week and December 11 ASX debut. CBA Equities has shown Affinity to fund managers over the past week and about a fortnight ago took a small group...
Australian Medical Association of WA wants unvaccinated children banned from childcare centres
NEWS.com.au - November 2, 2013CHILDREN who are not fully vaccinated would be banned from childcare centres under a plan put forward by the Australian Medical Association. The Sunday Times has learnt the AMA's WA branch wants the Barnett Government to consider introducing such a ban into law. Under the plan...
Counting the cost of caring too much
The Sunday Telegraph - Kerry Parnell - November 2, 2013IF ever you needed proof that society's values are wrong, consider this: If you are a carer of a child with a critical illness or special needs and are in a relationship where one of you earns an average wage, you will be paid $57.70 per week. If, however, you put that same child into...
Hits and misses in early report card
The Age - Field Rickards - November 1, 2013If this government is serious about lifting Australia's education performance, another important area of focus should be early childhood education and care. Childcare is not just about supporting women's participation in the workforce, it is also about education. Research has shown the...
How far is too far for society to go to protect our children?
The Advertiser - November 1, 2013SHOULD there be a witness to nappy changing in childcare centres? Is it OK to door knock neighbours to check that a potential employee will be OK around kids? Tough questions. Parents would do anything to protect their children. There''s an overriding instinct there. When children...
Halving Rates of Mental Illness
Pro Bono News - October 31, 2013The costs of mental illness in Australia will continue to grow from the current $190 billion per annum because Australia is not investing in the social and emotional wellbeing of infants and young children (0-5 years), according to experts at a Canberra Conference. In a joint communiqué...
Measles warning after two WA children diagnosed
Perth Now - Kara Vickery - October 31, 2013PARENTS are being urged to check their children's measles vaccinations records after two WA children were confirmed with the disease. Health Department director of communicable disease control Paul Armstrong said two unvaccinated children, aged 13 months and 15 months, had been...
Commissioner for Victims' Rights Michael O'Connell wants stringent checks on people who work with children
The Advertiser - Tory Shepherd - October 30, 2013CHECKS on people who work with children should extend to door-knocking their neighbours if necessary, Commissioner for Victims' Rights Michael O'Connell says. In a submission to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, he also warns that to avoid...
States resist Coalition childcare moves
The Australian - Patricia Karvelas - October 30, 2013COALITION states have rebuffed attempts by the Abbott government to slow down national childcare reforms, but the new federal minister says she has won the battle to simplify reporting and relieve the 'red tape burden on providers'. The childcare sector was devastated during the...
Better preschools paying off, stats show
NEWS.com.au - October 30, 2013THE evidence is in: better quality preschool education is leading to smarter primary school students. The COAG Reform Council says that halfway through the Council of Australian Governments' 10-year agreement to improve early childhood and school education, there are...
Child poverty 'can shrink brain'
NEWS.com.au - October 29, 2013POVERTY in early childhood can shrink the brain, a study has shown. The finding may help explain links between deprivation and poor mental ability and performance at school. Scientists in the United States conducted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain scans on 145 children aged six...
