Child Care News
Childcare: What good's a rebate when you can't even get a place?
Women's Agenda - Kate Ashmor - July 2, 2013Just about every time I click on a YouTube video, watch television or open a newspaper, I'm confronted with federal government advertisements informing me that we can claim a non-means tested childcare rebate. That's fantastic, except my daughter is still on multiple waiting lists for...
Childcare yields for those keen on income
The Australian - Adrian Ezquerro - July 2, 2013ARF is a real estate investment trust comprising 172 childcare centres and five childcare land development sites. The trust only recently listed on the ASX in a move that raised $75 million of new capital. ARF now has a market capitalisation of about $215m. ARF is managed by specialist...
After-school care crisis hits working parents
Sydney Morning Herald - Amy McNeilage - July 1, 2013Parts of Sydney are experiencing an after-school care crisis, with children spending years on waiting lists for limited places and stressed-out working parents calling for the state and federal governments to intervene. Rozelle Public School's out of school hours care, commonly known...
Coalition Senator Michaelia Cash attacks Penny Wong for betraying Julia Gillard and the sisterhood
NEWS.com.au - Jessica Marszalek - June 28, 2013Attacking Government legislation that will deliver pay rises to only some childcare workers, the Opposition spokeswoman for women, Michaelia Cash, said the Rudd Government had tricked staff into believing a pay rise was coming. "The current Rudd Government, who we all know Senator...
Preschool rates lag world but graduates set the pace
The Australian - Julie Hare - June 28, 2013AUSTRALIAN three- and four-year-olds are engaged in formal preschool education at one of the lowest rates in the world. But a major report from the OECD also found education attainment improves with qualification level, with 38 per cent of the working population holding a degree...
Babes in the city
Sydney Morning Herald - Jade Warne - June 28, 2013The inner city is home to a growing number of young families and it's a trend that is set to skyrocket. Facilities are already stretched and as Jade Warne reports, the battle over limited space is just beginning. You've seen them on buses - tucked in at the front whispering in soothing tones...
False claims, multiple enrolments net some childcare centres millions
Herald Sun - Alex White - June 27, 2013INSIDERS are warning that dodgy Victorian daycare centres are rorting millions of dollars from the Federal Government. More than $350,000 has been clawed back from nine shonky daycare centres falsely claiming childcare rebates in Victoria. However, department staff warned the issue was...
Pay rise for some child-care workers
Sydney Morning Herald - June 26, 2013Some childcare workers are set for a pay rise under a new government scheme to attract and retain qualified early childhood teachers. But the opposition objects that many would miss out while the union covering childcare workers, United Voice, would benefit from an increase in...
New vaccinations needed for govt payments
NEWS.com.au - Clifford Fram - June 26, 2013THE criteria for children to be considered fully immunised have been expanded to include two meningitis vaccinations and one for chicken pox. Most children are up to date with the vaccinations, which have been encouraged for some time, but from July 1 they will be compulsory for family...
Early talkers benefit from non-verbal clues
ABC Science - Rachel Sullivan - June 25, 2013Giving toddlers non-verbal cues about words can have a big impact on their vocabulary three years later, according to new research. The work, which was carried out by a research team from the University of Chicago and the University of Pennsylvania, found that differences in what...
Union 'harassed' childcare worker
The Australian - Patricia Karvelas - June 25, 2013BRISBANE childcare worker Pamela Parfitt says industry union United Voice harassed her after she decided to quit the union and repeatedly told her she should go to a larger childcare centre, Goodstart Early Learning, if she wanted a pay rise. Ms Parfitt decided to go public because she...
Pacific Islanders struggling to find appropriate childcare
Radio Australia - June 24, 2013Although the Melbourne City Council has set up many different culturally-specific playgroups for families, there are none that cater to Pacific Islanders. Pacific Island parents are struggling to find childcare centres and services that support their culture, identity and family values. While existing...
Childcare centres missing tougher targets
Sydney Morning Herald - Cosima Marriner and Conrad Walters - June 23, 2013More than half of NSW childcare centres assessed so far have failed to meet new national benchmarks under the federal government's push to improve the standard of early childhood care. One in four NSW childcare centres has been assessed against the national quality standards that...
Unvaccinated workers risking children's lives
Sunday Telegraph - Jane Hansen - June 23, 2013CHILDCARE workers should face mandatory vaccination off the back of new laws that require children to show proof of vaccination before they enrol in child care. At present childcare workers are not required to be vaccinated despite a NSW Health report recommending the move four...
Common playground illness has its lethal side
Sydney Morning Herald - Melissa Davey - June 23, 2013Like many in childcare, Nathanael Cachia contracted hand, foot and mouth disease when he was 16 months old. The doctor told his mother Caileen that it was a mild illness and to keep him quarantined until it cleared. By the next day, Nathanael was paralysed in his right leg. "He was...
