Child Care News
1100 Childcarers working without security checks
ABC Radio 702 - Ella Kennedy - September 05, 2012More than 1100 New South Wales child care centre workers have not had mandatory working with children checks. The NSW Education Department is writing to every childcare centre in the state after it was discovered that 1100 childcare workers at Goodstart Childcare Centres had not gone...
Shift workers driving family day care growth
Herald Sun - Lisa Power - September 4, 2012Record levels of Australian children are now in enrolled in childcare and demand has seen the number of children in Family Day Care and in-home care swell to 115,660 – a rise of 7% over the last year. Family Day Care Australia said an increase in parents needing care outside...
Asthma campaign targets schools
The Canberra Times - Peter Jean - September 3, 2012The arrival of spring is annoying for many allergy sufferers but it can also be a health hazard for asthmatics whose symptoms are triggered by allergens. And not being there if something goes wrong can prey on the minds of parents whose children with severe asthma are at school or child care...
NSW Labor defends council care centres
The Daily Telegraph - August 29, 2012NSW Opposition Leader John Robertson is urging Liberal candidates in local government elections to oppose privatising council-run child care centres. Mr Robertson on Wednesday launched Labor's campaign to keep council-run childcare in public hands. "The Liberals in NSW are cutting jobs...
Childcare is key to women's workplace participation
Financial Review - Catherine Fox - August 29, 2012The core conversation about better productivity and access to the best talent in Australian business has come a long way in recent years. As Credit Suisse's chief executive David Livingstone and Rio Tinto Australia's managing director David Peever made clear to a forum in Sydney this week...
Employers push for subsidies to adapt childcare to modern workforce
The Australian - Natasha Robinson - August 29, 2012EMPLOYERS have asked the federal government to consider subsidising more flexible childcare arrangements for workers, amid concerns that care arrangements have not kept pace with the changing nature of work. Representatives from some of the nation's biggest companies...
Obese preschoolers the target of new child development policy
The Australian - Mark Schliebs - August 29, 2012OBESE preschoolers will be targeted in a new child development policy drafted by the South Australian Labor government, which says about 20 per cent of young children are overweight. Child Development Minister Grace Portolesi said focusing on obese children before they were...
What men want: flexible work
Financial Review - Rachel Nickless - August 29, 2012Men are increasingly wanting work flexibility to care for their children, but many are afraid to ask for fear of career penalties, according to two studies of Australian fathers released this week. Launching a report for the Diversity Council of Australia in Melbourne yesterday, comedian and...
Govt 'open' to childcare tax ideas: Ellis
The Australian - August 28, 2012SOME of Australia's largest companies are expected to push for better tax breaks for employees' childcare needs at a meeting with the federal government in Sydney. Minister for Employment Participation and Child Care Kate Ellis told AAP she expected big employers to raise the...
Gastro epidemic hits NSW
The Daily Telegraph - August 28, 2012AN outbreak of gastroenteritis has landed more than 3500 people in NSW hospitals over the past fortnight. NSW Health says primary school-aged children and people in aged care facilities, hospitals and child care have been struck down by the epidemic. NSW Health Director of Health...
Rebate push targets 30,000 nannies
The Australian - Patricia Karvelas and Sophie Gosper - August 27, 2012UP to 30,000 subsidised nanny-style places could be created for families needing childcare during non-traditional working hours, under a plan before the federal government. Under the plan, developed by the National In-home Childcare Association -- the only subsidised nanny scheme...
Childcare workers graduate with no experience of kids
Sunday Herald Sun - Sue Dunlevy - August 26, 2012CHILDCARE staff have been dismissed after turning up to work with only a few weeks' training and without ever having had contact with children. The workers are obtaining express certificates within weeks, as the Federal Government moves to increase quality in the sector by requiring...
A little care for refugees goes a long way
Sydney Morning Herald - Julie Power - August 24, 2012A NEW childcare company in Sydney's west has transformed the lives of 100 refugee and migrant women, 80 of whom have found paid work for the first time in their lives as family day care providers to others in their community. Amazing Family Day Care was established just over...
The grandest job of them all?
The West Australian - Connie Clarke - August 23, 2012According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, more than a quarter (26 per cent) of children are now cared for by their grandparents on a regular basis. In 2011, that equated to 936,999 children aged up to 12. This informal care by grandparents compares with 14 per cent of children in...
Childcare worker admits molesting 12 boys
Sydney Morning Herald - Vincent Morello - August 23, 2012An eight-year-old was the main target of a Sydney childcare worker who molested 12 young boys after gaining the confidence of their parents. Jonathan Luke Lord, 25, pleaded guilty to 29 child sex and indecent assault charges in Sydney's Central Local Court on Thursday. One of his victims...
