Child Care News
Nanny row on the boil
Financial Review - Fleur Anderson And Katie Walsh - March 29, 2012The childcare industry will lobby federal politicians from Labor and the Coalition to head off burgeoning support from top businesswomen for extended subsidies for nannies and means testing of childcare rebates. The plan of Opposition Leader Tony Abbott to ask the Productivity Commission...
Childcare debate off and running
Financial Review - Marian Baird and Alexandra Heron - March 29, 2012Nannies will never be the solution for most working women’s families. In addition, the problems and solutions associated with women’s workforce participation and suitable childcare arrangements do not begin and end with a choice between a nanny or group childcare...
Import nannies to help working women
Financial Review - March 29, 2012Extending the tax breaks and subsidies for child care would further undermine a budget that is deep in the red. We could avoid this issue by relaxing immigration rules so nannies and aged-care workers, especially from Asia, can more easily enter and work in Australia...
Quality child care key to mums returning to work
The Age - Louise Tarrant - March 29, 2012Early childhood educators can no longer be taken for granted, writes LOUISE TARRANT. Tony Abbott is right. If we want women to participate in the workforce they need support. With our country's aging population we know mothers returning to the workforce is crucial for the economy...
Funding the issue as mums in the House go coy on care
The Australian - Sue Dunlevy - March 29, 2012As a political debate raged over Tony Abbott's plan to extend childcare subsidies to nannies, many of the politicians who use nannies to juggle their high-powered careers and families refused to speak publicly on the issue of how they should be funded. Australia's first...
Property Council says Govt needs affordable housing plan
Herald Sun - Jessica Marszalek - March 28, 2012THE Government should have a home affordability target and a plan to saturate cities with childcare centres, the Property Council says. And the Federal Government should punish it with financial penalties if it fails. In a stinging assessment of Australia's growth plans...
Crying out for nanny rebate
Financial Review - Fleur Anderson, Patrick Durkin and Claire Stewart - March 28, 2012Leading Australian businesswomen have backed Tony Abbott's call to extend childcare subsidies to nannies, claiming that mid-level executives need greater flexibility to stay in the workforce. Governments could help support a wider, more flexible range of childcare options if government payments, like the childcare rebate, was made to be means-tested...
Kate Ellis under fire over nanny slur
The Australian - Patricia Karvelas and Sophie Gosper - March 28, 2012CHILDCARE Minister Kate Ellis has been accused of inciting class rivalry after saying the childcare rebate should not be extended to nannies because they were chauffeurs and chefs hired to do the ironing. Ms Ellis accused Tony Abbott of intending to cut...
Parenting debate needs to focus on childcare
Financial Review - Catherine Fox - March 27, 2012Under the current system, unless you earn about $180,000 a year and attract the highest personal income tax rate, you are better off with the current childcare rebate of 50 per cent than a tax deduction for childcare costs. But most in-home care costs do not qualify for relief...
Rebate scheme aims to extend the nanny state
The Australian - Patricia Karvelas and Sophie Gosper - March 27, 2012SEX Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick has backed a proposal to explore extending the childcare rebate to in-home nannies, saying the normal times of childcare centres do not suit women who work demanding hours or do shift work. Tony Abbott has said an...
Tony Abbott's nanny state
Sydney Morning Herald - March 27, 2012Despite years of debate about work and family issues, too many parents still find it difficult to find childcare that meets their needs. A more flexible, higher-quality formal childcare system would deliver considerable economic dividends. And if that existed, demand for nannies would plummet...
Rebate for nanny care will reduce baby blues
Sydney Morning Herald - Carmen Michael - March 27, 2012Quite simply, there is a market failure in the care of children less than two years old and a shaky market at best for those between two and three. Part of the problem is tight regulation - undoubtedly necessary to ensure the safety of our most vulnerable treasures...
Childcare operators see red as Coalition flags childcare rebate to be extended to nannies
Smart Company - Madeleine Heffernan - March 26, 2012The childcare rebate could be extended to cover families with nannies under a Coalition Government, but childcare centres say any broadening of the rebate should be matched by greater scrutiny on providers. Federal opposition leader Tony Abbott says a...
Fear nanny subsidy will fund housekeeping for the rich
The Australian - Andrew Trounson and Stephen Lunn - March 26, 2012TONY Abbott's plan to consider extending government childcare rebates to the cost of nannies has sparked debate over their professionalism and whether it will simply fund house cleaning for the well-off. The Opposition Leader yesterday said an incoming Coalition government...
Nanny subsidy to hit care rebate
The Advertiser - Katina Curtis and Callie Watson - March 25, 2012TONY Abbott's call to provide rebates to people who use nannies would have to come at the expense of existing childcare benefits. Child Care Minister Kate Ellis says the policy ultimately would cost low-income families. Mr Abbott has proposed looking at extending...
