Child Care News
Flexibility sought in childcare
The Australian - Patricia Karvelas - July 25, 2012SINGLE parents forced on to the dole and made to look for work from January next year will be asked to "consider" informal arrangements such as care by family or friends or allowing an older child to be "unsupervised for a time" if formal childcare cannot be found. The government...
Kate Ellis says the Coalition has misunderstood childcare regulations
The Australian - Patricia Karvelas - July 24, 2012TONY Abbott's Coalition is claiming a NSW childcare centre is facing a $50,000 fine after two babies had their nappies changed at the same time, briefly disrupting the strict worker to child ratio rules. Opposition spokesperson for childcare Sussan Ley says the case backs her push for an urgent...
Work & Family Juggling Finds a Balance - Report
Pro Bono Australia - July 24, 2012Many Australian families are juggling their working lives without using formal child-care services, according to new research by the Australian Institute of Family Studies. Australian Institute of Family Studies Senior Research Fellow, Dr Jennifer Baxter said the study showed that two out of...
Flying into smoky haze at Melbourne Airport as smoking is banned at Melbourne play areas
Herald Sun - Kate Jones, Michelle Ainsworth - July 24, 2012SMOKING has been banned in and around Melbourne playgrounds and childcare centres after tougher laws were introduced by Melbourne City Council. It comes as the Herald Sun revealed Melbourne Airport would crack down on smokers after complaints travellers were being forced to...
Broken puzzle of childcare
The Australian - Adam Creighton - July 21, 2012One of the great mistakes is to judge policies and programs by their intentions rather than their results. - Milton Friedman. JUDGED by its intentions, the Australian government's childcare policies are superb. "Gone are the days when this sector was considered a babysitting service,"…
Nanny rebate battle stepped up
The Australian - Patricia Karvelas - July 21, 2012THE newly incorporated Australian Nanny Association will meet Childcare Minister Kate Ellis's advisers next month to push its case for taxpayer subsidies and warn the government that the family daycare model will not solve the nation's childcare woes. The news comes after Ms Ellis...
Free education guide aims to safeguard child safety around vehicles
The Daily Telegraph - Bruce McDougall - July 21, 2012FAMILIES and carers will be the focus of the biggest road safety blitz in a decade aimed at slashing the toll of child fatalities. More than 500,000 copies of a new educational guide about how to keep children safe around vehicles will be distributed free in the next few weeks. Horror statistics...
Childcare Minister Kate Ellis canes Coalition on childcare plans
The Australian - Patricia Karvelas - July 20, 2012THE battle over childcare has intensified, with Childcare Minister Kate Ellis accusing the Coalition of trying to build "baby farms" and reduce the quality of Australian child care for kids in the early years of their development, declaring she is "disgusted" by Tony Abbott's plan to…
Oppn accused of playing politics with kids
Nine News - Jacqueline Le - July 20, 2012The union representing childcare workers says the coalition is playing politics with kids by seeking a rollback of childcare reforms. United Voice national secretary Sue Lines says the union is shocked by opposition childcare spokeswoman Sussan Ley's criticism of national childcare reforms...
Coalition plans for childcare rollback
The Australian - Patricia Karvelas - July 20, 2012THE Coalition will convene an emergency meeting of state and territory childcare ministers to plan a rollback and delay of key elements of Labor's childcare reforms, particularly the rules that require workers to have higher levels of education by 2014. Opposition childcare spokeswoman Sussan...
Grants inflate costs: union
Sydney Morning Herald - Dan Harrison - July 20, 2012PUBLIC subsidies may be pushing up fees at childcare centres, the workers' union has told the Gillard government. The union, United Voice, said the government should take the childcare rebate away from parents and pay it directly to centres and regulate fees based on the true cost of care...
United Voice childcare union calls for rebate overhaul in inquiry submission
The Australian - Patricia Karvelas - July 20, 2012THE peak union for childcare workers has told Julia Gillard's childcare inquiry that the sector is in crisis and that the rebate paid to parents is inflationary. In its written submission United Voice argues that the childcare rebate must be radically changed and redirected to childcare centres...
Kate Ellis flags more flexible daycare plan
The Australian - Patricia Karvelas - July 19, 2012FAMILY daycare has been earmarked for expansion under the Gillard government's proposed reform of the childcare sector, which includes the biggest shake-up in 30 years of services for vulnerable children. Childcare Minister Kate Ellis will release a discussion paper today calling for...
Corporate takeover raises childcare fees
Herald Sun - Susie O'Brien - July 19, 2012PARENTS at two bayside childcare centres will pay some of the highest fees in the state after a corporate takeover. The Sandringham and Hampton childcare centres will remain open, but fees will rise from $99 a day to $120, Bayside City Council said. It comes as the cost of new, higher...
Tuning in to what makes toddlers tick
The Australian - Patricia Karvelas - July 18, 2012EVEN before children can talk they are learning about physics and language and communication, but how they learn is not well understood. Childcare educators need to concentrate on how to assess the subtle signs in children up to the age of three, says a report to be released tomorrow...
