Child Care News
Terrible twos and puberty blues cause frazzled parents the most stress
The Sunday Telegraph - Natasha Bita - September 23, 2012AUSTRALIA'S biggest time-lapse study of 8000 families reveals that boisterous little boys and hormonal schoolgirls stretch their frazzled parents to breaking point. Toddler and preschool boys top the list of Australia's most challenging children - with one in three mothers reporting...
Devil in detail of Opposition Leader Tony Abbott's grand plan
Sunday Herald Sun - Samantha Maiden - September 23, 2012CHILDCARE The policy: 1. The Coalition has pledged to ask the Productivity Commission to review childcare if elected. 2. Extending the 30 per cent childcare rebate to nannies would also be considered. Concerns that quality and safety reforms and red tape are driving up costs would also…
Former ABC Learning Centres boss Eddy Groves fights CBA bankruptcy bid in court
The Courier-Mail - Liam Walsh - September 22, 2012THE Commonwealth Bank has threatened to bankrupt Eddy Groves, the former childcare tsar whose wealth once extended to Ferraris and basketball teams. Mr Groves, who co-founded the now collapsed ABC Learning Centres chain, is battling the bankruptcy attempt. Lawyers for Mr Groves...
Federal MP Kate Ellis urges government to ease planning barriers and release more land for child care centres
Herald Sun - Phillip Hudson - September 21, 2012MORE child care centres could be opened to meet rapidly rising demand in Victoria if state and local governments eased planning barriers and freed up more land, says federal Child Care Minister Kate Ellis. Ms Ellis said a new report showed Victoria had an "astonishing increase" in child care…
Parents face sting from labour costs
The Australian - Patricia Karvelas - September 20, 2012PARENTS could face higher fees if the nation's childcare workers are awarded a government-funded pay rise because centres will be forced to pass on the significant additional "on costs", the peak body representing childcare centres has warned. Private childcare providers met yesterday...
Childcare workers stake their claim for wage boost
The Australian - September 20, 2012Nobody would argue that childcare workers should not be adequately rewarded for the valuable work they do in the community. But it is another step altogether to suggest the government should subsidise the pay of workers in the private sector. As The Australian reported yesterday...
Unpaid grandparents the unsung heroes of a nation's childcare
The Australian - Bernard Salt - September 20, 2012ONE of the key issues in modern Australia is childcare. Generally the discussion centres on the number of places (too few) and the cost (too much). But there is another story: the extent of childcare/minding that is provided without payment; this is the informal network of care that...
Childcare subsidies would be great for G8
The Australian - September 20, 2012The rebates also were manna from above for Eddy Groves's ABC Learning, fuelling the group's acquisitive growth before its debt-inspired implosion. Now the Gillard government is mulling a plan to subsidise childcare workers' pay to the tune of $1.4 billion. We await Canberra also topping up...
Childcare subsidy plan unaffordable - Abbott
NEWS.com.au - Malcolm Farr - September 19, 2012THE Government today is fending off calculations that it is promising more than it can pay for without dumping its promised surplus and sending the Budget into deficit. Opposition Leader Tony Abbott is arguing the Government is raising expectations that it cannot afford to deliver...
No decision yet on child care pay rises: Swan
ABC News - Simon Cullen - September 19, 2012The Government is trying to hose down speculation that it is planning to spend billions of dollars topping up the private sector wages of child care workers, on the back of a concerted union campaign. Prime Minister Julia Gillard will meet with the United Voice union this afternoon to...
Childcare workers win $1.4bn subsidy
Financial Review - Laura Tingle, Marcus Priest and James Massola - September 19, 2012Prime Minister Julia Gillard is expected to announce a deal that will lead to childcare workers' pay in effect being subsidised by the budget amid increasing tensions within the federal government about its unfunded spending spree. Ms Gillard is expected to meet today with the United Voice...
Labor to announce childcare worker wage boost
Business Spectator - September 19, 2012Concerns over the federal government's ability to fund its spending promises are poised to escalate, with Prime Minister Julia Gillard expected to announce a plan that would see the government pay $1.4 billion annually to subsidise the salaries of private childcare workers…
Child forgotten in van
Herald Sun - Elissa Doherty - September 19, 2012TRAUMATISED toddler was trapped in a locked van for almost two hours after a childcare worker left her behind in the centre's carpark. Ezra De Silva's mother feared her three-year-old had been kidnapped when she discovered she was not inside the Pied Piper Child Care centre, shortly after…
Time-wasting red tape leads to exodus of childcare managers
AdelaideNow - Katrina Stokes - September 18, 2012CHILDCARE centre managers are quitting because new regulations are creating unnecessary red tape. The industry says it fears the exodus could force inexperienced people into management roles, leading to untrained workers caring for children. The Advertiser has been told some...
$23.8 million for early childhood education in WA
Invest In Australia - September 18, 2012Western Australian pre-school children will benefit from an additional $23.8 million in funding for early childhood education after the state met targets through the Early Childhood National Partnerships Agreement. Western Australia had a 25 percentage point increase in children…