Childcare board to steer centre pay rises
May 24, 2013
The Australian - Patricia Karvelas - May 24, 2013
A NEW seven-member childcare advisory board will be unveiled today, charged with determining which centres will receive wage increases. But the members do not include a representative of the Australian Childcare Alliance, which represents 70 per cent of private providers and has just...

AMA backs plan to boost vaccinations
May 24, 2013
NEWS.com.au - May 23, 2013
THE Australian Medical Association has backed plans to increase childhood vaccinations. But it's unlikely to support a proposal to lock non-immunised kids out of school. The NSW government and Queensland opposition have both flagged legislation which would give pre-schools and early...

Family daycare ratio tightens
May 24, 2013
The Mercury - Michelle Paine - May 23, 2013
FAMILY daycarers are concerned that hundreds of Tasmanian children will struggle to find places next year. From January 1, each carer will only be able to look after four children from infant to four years old. In family daycare, children are looked after in the carer's home. The present ratio...

Queensland Labor joins push to ban unvaccinated children from childcare centres
May 23, 2013
Courier Mail - Kelmeny Fraser - May 23, 2013
CHILDREN would be barred from entering childcare unless they were fully immunised, under a Bill to be introduced into State Parliament today by the Opposition. Opposition Leader Annastacia Palaszczuk released details of the ALP's policy at State Parliament while cradling her niece Evelyn...

Parents spending 50pc more to bring up children
May 23, 2013
The Australian - Patricia Karvelas and Rachel Baxendale - May 23, 2013
A TYPICAL middle-income family spends 50 per cent more to raise two children than it did six years ago, with the total bill up to the age of 24 estimated at $812,000. A report by AMP and the National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling reveals the amount middle-income families choose to...