Child Care News
Childcare centres to lift fees
Herald Sun - Elissa Doherty - July 16, 2011COMMUNITY-based childcare centres will raise their fees by up to $10 a day when federal government reforms are rolled in from January 1, an exclusive survey has found. As well, half of the centres had lifted fees on July 1 in anticipation of rising...
Playgroups give children early lesson in life, study shows
Sydney Morning Herald - Adele Horin - July 14, 2011PLAYGROUPS are considered the poor cousin to formal childcare, even though about 150,000 Australian children attend them regularly, usually with their mother. After 40 years of operating in parks and church halls, playgroups have undergone their first serious...
Record numbers of parents hold kids back from school in NSW
The Sunday Telegraph - Laura Speranza - July 10, 2011Childcare NSW president Vicki Skoulogenis said children who begin school later benefited academically as children aged four to five often didn't have the concentration span to sit at a table and listen to a teacher for long. Ms Skoulogenis said girls...
Too little to learn?
The Canberra Times - Phillip Thomson - 10 Jul, 2011Her mother Elizabeth Christiansen has called for the school start age brought in line with NSW, partly as a way for parents to avoid skyrocketing costs of child care. Schools across the border have the youngest kindergarten students in Australia and...
Child care tax breaks needed
The Australian Financial Review - Narelle Hooper - July 9. 2011A national summit has called for full tax deductibility for child care to help boost gender equity...
My School data 'inaccurate'
Sydney Morning Herald - Dan Harrison - July 5, 2011The West Australian and Tasmanian governments and many independent schools are unable to separate their income and spending for preschool students from that for school students. However the federal education department has decreed that in the next...
Why we're becoming a nanny state
Adelaide Now - Callie Watson - July 04, 2011In days gone by if you had a nanny it was a sign you had a lot of money... It's becoming a more affordable option." Ms McKenna said the increasing popularity of nannies was also providing a new career path, different from that of a childcare worker...
Interview with Ian Henschke, ABC 891
DEEWR - July 1, 2011KATE ELLIS: Well, the industry were actually part of the extensive consultations. Now, what we want to do is ensure that there is a high quality across the board. Now, obviously that will cost more for the centres which at the moment don't have adequate supervision and don't train their staff...
Child carers call for gradual reform
Sydney Morning Herald - Bonny Symons-Brown - July 1, 2011Childcare providers have called on the federal government to slow the rollout of its planned reforms to the sector until it can afford to fund them entirely. A draft Productivity Commission report into Australia's early childhood development workforce...
Subsidy call for childcare fee rise
The Australian - Sue Dunlevy - July 01, 2011TAXPAYER subsidies for childcare will have to increase to stop working mothers cutting back their hours when fees rise next year under changes to the sector, the Productivity Commission has warned. In a 438-page draft report on the early childhood...
Reforms to push up childcare costs
Herald Sun - Elissa Doherty - July 01, 2011LOW-income parents could be forced to remove their children from childcare if costs rise because of reforms, the Productivity Commission has found. The reforms, to be introduced in January, involve a "substantially larger and more highly qualified ...
New child rules may raise costs
The Age - Dan Harrison - July 01, 2011CHILDCARE fees are likely to rise because of national reforms to improve quality, the Productivity Commission has warned. In a draft report on the early childhood workforce released yesterday, the commission said there was a risk that disadvantaged...
Tighter rules put childcare centres out of business
The Australian - Sue Dunlevy - June 30, 2011CHILDCARE operators have begun to sell off their businesses to avoid a barrage of new fines and regulations that are expected to force fees up by an average $13 per child per day, more than 20 times what the government had predicted. Kerry Lada, who ran…
Take-A-Break cuts threaten occasional childcare
Melbourne Times Weekly - Anna Whitelaw - June 28, 2011PARENTS, neighbourhood houses and childcare workers will rally to save occasional childcare funding this Thursday, after state funding cuts threatened fee hikes and closures. The rally, on the steps of Parliament, will protest the Baillieu government's decision...
No gender allowed at preschool; 'Him' and 'her' nixed to keep boys and girls equal
NY Daily News (USA) - June 28, 2011At the "Egalia" preschool, staff avoid using words like "him" or "her" and address the 33 kids as "friends" rather than girls and boys. From the color and placement of toys to the choice of books, every detail has been carefully planned to make sure the children...
