Child Care News
Costly baby rooms go out with bathwater
The Australian - Patricia Karvelas - December 18, 2012CHILDCARE centres are considering closing down their baby rooms because the cost of providing the care is too high, and operators are calling on the Gillard government to lift childcare subsidies for babies to maintain places and create incentives for more. Gwynn Bridge, chief executive...
Asbestos found by childcare centres
Sydney Morning Herald -December 16, 2012THE environment regulator has been called in after two tonnes of asbestos sheeting was found metres from two childcare centres in inner Sydney. It was found by Fire and Rescue NSW crews and a hazardous materials team at Wattle Lane, Ultimo, on Friday night. Two childcare centres...
New weaning guidelines in response to increase in child allergies
NEWS.com.au - Natasha Bita - December 15, 2012BABIES would be fed solid foods sooner under new health guidelines to slow an alarming surge in the number of children with life-threatening food allergies. Anxious parents are giving toddlers their first taste of peanuts in hospital carparks and doctors' surgeries, for fear they might suffer an...
First on 7: Dangerous Child Care Centres
7News Sydney - Sean Berry - December 14, 2012A 7News investigation has uncovered the dozens of accidents injuring children at daycare centres across the state every day. Documents obtained by 7News show more than 300 children were injured in New South Wales daycare in just three months from April to July. The most, 92, were...
Childcare centres 'exempt' from noise laws
The Canberra Times - Michael Inman and Christopher Knaus - December 12, 2012Noise from child care centres could be exceeding suburban sound limits, but ACT law exempts the facilities from the restrictions. The ACT Environmental Protection Agency's limit for daytime noise levels in residential areas is 45 decibels. An Association of Australian Acoustic Consultants...
Why you might be paying more than other families for childcare
BRW - Michael Bailey - December 11, 2012Childcare centres are one year into a three-year implementation of national quality standards that some feared would send costs skyrocketing for working parents, however as centres this month advise customers of their rates for 2013, price rises are varying widely. The biggest increases...
Universal pre-school education leads to greater educational equality, study claims
Nursery World - Catherine Gaunt - December 10, 2012The Institute of Education concludes that universal pre-school education raises standards and leads to greater equality in how well children do at school. The study also concludes that while all social groups benefit from pre-school provision, children from the poorest families gain the most...
Leaders blocking childcare proposal
The Australian - Justine Ferrari and Patricia Karvelas - December 8, 2012THE federal government yesterday accused the states of blocking a push to create more childcare places after the biggest states rejected its plan to establish a taskforce to deal with the issue. Early Childhood and Child Care Minister Kate Ellis attacked the NSW, Queensland, West Australian and...
Minister urges fast-tracked planning to beat place shortfall
The Courier-Mail - Natasha Bita - December 8, 2012DEMAND for day care is surging 13 times faster than supply, leading to longer waits for a childcare place. More than 50,000 extra children poured into long-daycare centres last year - yet only 44 new centres were built across Australia. The number of children in day care grew 9.1 per cent...
The modern nanny is a legitimate and cost-effective parenting tool for many working families
Herald Sun - Kathleen Cuthbertson - December 7, 2012NOTICE that woman pushing the double stroller down the street towards you, groceries hanging off one handle bar, scooter stacked on top? Is that the mother or the nanny? And really, why would you ever think to ask? Once upon a time, unless you lived in certain suburbs ("the nanny belt"…
Backload of paperwork is just one issue crippling childcare system
The Australian - Patricia Karvelas, Verity Edwards - December 7, 2012SEX Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick has called for a broad-ranging inquiry into the nation's childcare system, as state and federal ministers meet today to map out a plan to resolve some of the issues crippling the sector. "There would be great benefits from Australia...
Crackdown on family daycare rebate rorts
The Australian - Patricia Karvelas - December 3, 2012THE Gillard government will crack down on family daycare operators it believes are rorting the childcare rebate by claiming it for the same child more than once. The Australian has learnt that family daycare providers may be misusing the rebate. It appears the breaches are occurring...
Reforms crippling childcare
The Examiner - Jodie Stephens - December 2, 2012THE childcare sector is "in crisis" with parents facing rising fees and workers fleeing the sector, according to childcare advocates. The United Voice childcare union and the Australian Childcare Alliance are concerned that national reforms introduced in January are putting more pressure on...
Families owe $1b to Centrelink
The Sunday Telegraph - Natasha Bita - December 02, 2012HALF a million families have fallen into welfare debt after Centrelink overpaid them a whopping $1.7 billion last year. The government has used private debt collectors to recover $1.1 billion in Centrelink overpayments during 2011-12, new figures reveal. Families, pensioners, students and...
Childcare costs are the real issue, writes Samantha Maiden
Sunday Mail (SA) - Samantha Maiden - December 01, 2012Childcare costs for families with younger children is looming as a major battleground. Tony Abbott's big pitch in the marketplace remains his paid parental leave scheme that offers far more generous cash grants to working mothers than Labor. Despite Coalition disquiet over the generosity of...
