Child Care News
Depopulate and perish
Financial Review - Steven Philip Kramer - May 25, 2012Population decline poses a grave danger to the developed world. Yet there is nothing inevitable about it. History shows governments can raise birthrates close to replacement levels if only they adopt the right kinds of pronatalist policies. This means making available high-quality and affordable childcare, offering families financial support and supporting mothers who pursue careers...
All together now - 300,000 kids in story marathon
The Daily Telegraph - Alice Coote - May 24, 2012Nick Bland's The Very Cranky Bear was read aloud in about 2200 libraries, kindies, schools and homes across Australia yesterday in the 12th National Simultaneous Storytime. At 11am, the two- to six-year-olds heard the story of the four friends who encounter a very cranky bear in his cave...
Widening gap 'a reason' to raise childcare cap
The Australian - Patricia Karvelas - May 23, 2012TONY Abbott's Coalition has revealed it wants to lift the cap on the childcare rebate, flagging an increase on the $7500 families currently receive per child. Coalition childcare spokeswoman Sussan Ley has told The Australian a 300 per cent increase in families hitting the childcare rebate cap...
Childcare faces crisis over wages
Sunshine Coast Daily - Jorge Branco - May 23, 2012LYNN Afotey-Otu has worked in childcare for more than 30 years but is now concerned the whole industry is in crisis, with workers leaving in droves due to poor pay. Mrs Afotey-Otu runs the Little Legends Early Learning Centre in Dakabin, where she's finding it harder to attract and keep staff...
Anthony defends silence on ABC fees
Courier Mail - Liam Walsh - May 22, 2012FORMER federal minister and ABC Learning Centres director Larry Anthony has defended leaving out of annual reports almost $13,000 a month in fees from a contractor for the childcare giant. He also justified, in court yesterday, not declaring the fees at board meetings of the Brisbane-based...
Union warning on childcare strategy
The Age - Peter Martin - May 21, 2012The government is reportedly considering an accord along the lines of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme that would directly subsidise childcare centres in exchange for guaranteed fees. Until now the government has paid money to parents to subsidise fees rather than fund the childcare centres themselves...
Childcarers want subsidy for fee freeze
Sydney Morning Herald - May 20, 2012Childcare workers will quit the industry in droves unless the federal government comes up with subsidies as part of any move to cap fees, a union says. The federal government is canvassing options to freeze childcare fees, including paying direct subsidies to the industry in exchange for...
What comes after ABC?
Brisbane Times - Cosima Mariner - May 20, 2012Julia Davison is seeking to change the focus, and the culture, of the once-troubled childcare business. "Eddy came by helicopter, I come by Mini." That's how Julia Davison, the new boss of Australia's largest childcare chain, sums up the difference between her and her predecessor...
Julia Gillard considering options to keep childcare price hikes in check
The Sunday Mail - Samantha Maiden - May 20, 2012The options include direct subsidies to the childcare industry in exchange for price agreements, or increased childcare payments to low and middle income families. Any agreement might also encourage innovation in addressing parents' needs such as extended opening hours or greater...
Julia's childcare plan stolen from the Howard playbook
The Sunday Telegraph - Samantha Maiden - May 20, 2012When John Howard faced political death he froze petrol prices. Julia Gillard is now considering stealing from the same playbook with a plan to freeze childcare prices. It might not save her government. But it is likely to prove political dynamite. The Howard government's extraordinary…
ABC pondered big buy in tough times
Herald Sun - Liam Walsh - May 19, 2012ABC Learning Centres considered buying a "massive chain" of US childcare centres as the world economy was turning volatile in late 2007, it has been revealed. The plan was worth up to $3 billion and dubbed "Project Kangaroo", with revelations emerging at the Brisbane District Court...
Grandparents bear greater share of childcare duties
The Age - Rachel Wells - May 17, 2012MORE Australian children are being cared for by their grandparents than by formal childcare providers, such as long day care, according to new figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. The figures show that while half of all Australian children under 12 received childcare...
Coalition plans for sweeping changes to nanny industry
The Australian - Patricia Karvelas - May 15, 2012THE Coalition has begun discussions with the nanny industry over stamping out "backyard care", as it pursues its goal of extending the childcare rebate to in-home carers, in the event of an Abbott government. Opposition childcare spokeswoman Sussan Ley said she had spoken to several nanny services about regulation...
ABC Learning chief defied embargo, court hears
Brisane Times - Marissa Calligeros - May 15, 2012The former chief executive of ABC Learning allegedly sold three childcare centres he owned to the global chain nearly two months after the company's board of directors placed an "embargo" on new acquisitions, a court has heard. Martin Kemp is accused of arranging for ABC Learning to buy three...
Storytime comes at a cost
Sydney Morning Herald - Cosima Marriner and James Robertson - May 13, 2012Parents once considered reading their children a bedtime story and attending free storytime at the local library sufficient for developing early literacy skills. But there is a burgeoning industry charging for reading classes for preschoolers, tapping into parents' desire to give their child a head start in life...
