Child Care News
Let the children play, new national guidelines advise
The Age - Elisabeth Tarica - October 10, 2011Fun and creativity are the order of the day for after-school care. It's something educators have known for a long time, but now it is official: play and having fun are central to the learning and development of children...
Preschool fee jump pressures parents
Sydney Morning Herald - Gareth Hutchens - October 9, 2011THOUSANDS of parents have been caught out by NSW government plans to charge compulsory fees at public preschools next year. The speed with which the compulsory fees will be introduced has left parents and principals scrambling. Many parents have already enrolled their children...
Nanny agency Charlton Brown claims inquiry rate for in-home child help has doubled in past six months
The Sunday Mail (Qld) - Mike Bruce - ‎October 9, 2011QUEENSLAND is in the grips of a nanny boom as time-poor families reach out for more help at home. With Australians working longer, owing more, earning more, but busier than ever, live-in nannies and au pairs are no longer the preserve of the super-rich. Child-minding and after-school...
Income tax to top forum agenda
Herald Sun - October 05, 2011THE Federal Government is backing child care rebates over tax deductions because it benefits more families, but says it is open to discuss potential changes at the tax forum. Transfer payments, such as income support and family assistance, ...
Income tax to top agenda at tax forum
NEWS.com.au - October 05, 2011THE Federal Government is backing childcare rebates over tax deductions because it benefits more families, but says it is open to discuss potential changes at the tax forum. Transfer payments, such as income support and family assistance, ...
Cash needed for Chelsea kids
Mordialloc Chelsea Leader - Jesse Wray-McCann - October 5, 2011THE future of Chelsea Occasional Child Care hangs in the balance as the centre desperately seeks community sponsorship to continue next year. The axing of Take a Break funding has already forced nearby Longbeach Place to shut down its occasional...
Union fears taxing times
The Canberra Times - Peter Jean - October 3, 2011It also said a Fringe Benefits Tax exemption for child-care benefits provided by an employer was overly restrictive. The exemption was only available when an employer had a child-care centre on its premises but should be extended to include payments to other approved child-care providers...
Women's groups call for relief from taxing child-care expenses
The Canberra Times - Peter Trute - October 3, 2011The cost and complexity of child care have been named as barriers to women returning to work and will be the target of calls for more government support at this week's tax summit in Canberra. A new report has identified child care as the biggest obstacle for women returning to work...
APY child centres stalled for six years
The Australian - Mark Schiebs - October 3, 2011FEDERALLY funded childcare centres "critical" to families in the troubled Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands have not been built -- six years after millions of dollars was handed out for their construction. The federal government provided $2.1 million...
Wine, banks and childcare on forum agenda
Australian Financial Review - Tax Forum - October 1, 2011Submissions to the forum have flowed in over the pastfortnight. Businesses want inefficient state taxes to go and company tax to drop; health groups want a wine tax overhaul; the banking industry wants a deduction for childcare; for others, it's a congestion charge...
Relief sought for taxing childcare costs
Ninemsn - September 30, 2011The cost and complexity of child care have been named as barriers to women returning to work and will be the target of calls for more government support at next week's tax summit in Canberra. A new report has identified child care as the biggest obstacle for women returning to work...
Toddlers with tablets
Courier Mail - Anthony Gough - September 29, 2011Inner-northside children will be on the cutting edge of technology from next year, with a Clayfield early learning centre using next generation teaching tools for the next generation of kids. Lyndhurst Early Learning Centre will start using Apple iPads in its curriculum...
Taxpayers urged to subsidise childcare workers
The Australian - Natasha Bita - September 29, 2011AUSTRALIA's biggest childcare chain, ABC Learning, has called for more taxpayer subsidies to fund wage rises for childcare workers on the minimum wage. Nearly three years after its collapse into receivership, ABC Learning has delivered a modest $5.6 million surplus...
It's not that taxing - we can do better
Sydney Morning Herald - Tony Nicholson - September 29, 2011The fourth reform is to make sure that childcare subsidies provided through the tax system support the development of an early childhood education and care system that works for disadvantaged children and their families. While investment in early childhood education...
As fight against child obesity intensifies, experts say kids' gyms go to far
Herald Sun - Elissa Doherty - September 29, 2011Child psychologist Dr Michael Carr-Gregg said the only gyms children should be using were jungle gyms. "Little children shouldn't be spending time using gyms," he said. "People have got to be kidding. Children should be running around playing in the mud, sandpits and jungle gyms."
