Child Care News

Funded Three-Year-Old Kinder Open To Victorian Families
Mirage News - April 20, 2021

Victorian children will be able to benefit from an extra year of funded kindergarten next year as part of the Andrews Labor Government’s statewide rollout of Three-Year-Old Kindergarten. Acting Premier James Merlino, Minister for Early Childhood Ingrid Stitt and Member for ...

Castle Fun Park in Halls Head could be rebuilt and open as part of child care centre next year
Perth Now - Jake Dietsch, Mandurah Coastal Times - April 20, 2021

A dilapidated castle that was once the key feature of a fun park in Halls Head could be rebuilt and open to kids by the start of next year, the developer has revealed. Last month the Times broke the news the Castle on Leisure Way would be turned into a play area as part of ...

Early childhood teachers lose equal pay fight
The Australian - Rebecca Urban - April 19, 2021

The Independent Education Union of Australia has lost a long-running equal-pay case for early childhood teachers, after the Fair Work Commission rejected an argument that the work was comparable to that of professional engineers. In dismissing the union’s equal remuneration ...

Scott Morrison says sweeping deregulation will save businesses $430m a year on red tape
The Guardian - Paul Karp - April 20, 2021

Scott Morrison has claimed that businesses will save an estimated $430m annually from deregulation measures, including cutting greenhouse gas, pharmaceutical, occupational licensing, childcare and international education reporting requirements. In a speech to...

Australia's tax system favours men over women so it's time to make the budget more female-friendly
ABC News - Nassim Khadem - April 20, 2021

Lift childcare subsidies to get women back to work: The issue of "effective marginal tax rates" — the proportion of every extra dollar earned that is lost to the family after taking account of additional income tax paid, loss of family payments and loss of childcare subsidies ...

Pay rises for early childhood teachers
Mirage News - Independent Education Union - April 19, 2021

The Fair Work Commission handed down a decision today supporting pay rises of up to 10% for early childhood teachers, in response to a claim by the Independent Education Union of Australia (IEUA). The decision is the result of an eight-year long action by the IEUA NSW/ACT Branch ...

Swapping handwashing for sanitiser partly to blame for Victoria’s gastro outbreak
The Guardian - Melissa Davey - April 19, 2021

People using hand sanitiser instead of – rather than as well as – washing their hands have in part been blamed for an outbreak of viral gastroenteritis in Victoria. In March, Victorian health authorities warned gastroenteritis cases were up four-fold from the five-year average ...

‘Providers’ sought to take over shire’s home day care
The Mornington Peninsula News - Keith Platt - April 19, 2021

There are 145 families and 183 children affected by Mornington Peninsula Shire’s decision to stop administering family day care services. As well as finding “redeployment options” for its two children’s services officers, the shire says it is “committed to supporting each [of 25 educators] ...

Forest Hill opens new Family Daycare service to address growing need for flexible care
The Daily Advertiser - Jessica McLaughlin - April 19, 2021

A new educator is bringing a personal touch to daycare at Forest Hill as the demand for childcare services continues to grow...

‘Brushed aside’: Bushland concerns re-emerge on contentious site
Brisbane Times - Matt Dennien - April 19, 2021

Brisbane City Council will meet with residents over a contentious development in the city’s south, on land with significant environmental value and an earlier approved development. Plans for the residential care facility, health and childcare centre on Underwood Road, Eight Mile Plains...

UC researchers discover ‘elusive’ solution to increase physical activity in early childhood
The Sector - Jason Roberts - April 19, 2021

Researchers at the University of Canberra Research Institute for Sports and Exercise who have been exploring how the implementation of physical literacy programs in early childhood education and care centres have revealed how peer coaches working in collaboration ...

ECEC provider bestchance shares five ways to have outdoor fun during Nature Week
The Sector - Jason Roberts - April 19, 2021

As we enter the second week of Nature Play Week, Victorian based early childhood education and care (ECEC) provider ‘bestchance’ has shared five ways make to make the most of outdoor educational experiences for children, whether they be in care or at home. There is a growing ...

James Cook Uni researchers show pre-school mole counts show cancer risk
The Sector - Jason Roberts - April 19, 2021

Researchers at James Cook University have shown counting moles on pre-school children can accurately predict the risk of the most aggressive form of skin cancer, melanoma, in later life. Dr Ramez Barsoum and Dr Simone Harrison from JCU’s Skin Cancer Research Unit conducted ...

Gastro outbreaks on the rise in childcare
Bay939.com.au - Rebecca McDonald - April 19, 2021

Victoria's recorded 389 outbreaks of gastro so far this year in childcare centres and kindegartens, with 29 of those within Greater Geelong. Health authorities say the statewide number is four times higher than the average for this time of year. Wyndham has recorded 16 outbreaks ...

Another child care centre proposed for Central Queensland region
The Courier Mail - Vanessa Jarrett - April 19, 2021

A new child care centre has been proposed at Yeppoon as the developers capitalise on the interstate families who have moved to the region during the COVID-19 pandemic last year. The 115-place child care centre, which would employ 22 staff, has been proposed to be constructed at ...