Secret report 'prompted Baillieu childcare cut'
January 21, 2012
The Age - Clay Lucas - January 21, 2012 The Baillieu government has used a report it kept secret for almost a year to justify its decision to remove funding for an occasional childcare program. The Take a Break program provided occasional childcare for parents of preschool children around the state...

Bad parents leaving kids unsupervised at play centres
January 18, 2012
Herald Sun - Alex White - January 18, 2012 Police have been called in to deal with parents dumping children unsupervised at indoor play centres while they go shopping, or to avoid soaring day care costs. A Herald Sun investigation found children were being left unsupervised at play areas across Victoria every week...

Staff hard to come by as childcare centres struggle with reforms
January 16, 2012
The Sydney Morning Herald - Jessica Wright - January 16, 2012 A regional NSW childcare centre risks losing its accreditation after a fruitless two-year search to fill a single vacancy for a university qualified teacher and carer. The owner of the Willows Preschool and Early Learning Centre in Orange, Cathy Carroll, runs an operation which...

Childcare cuts will send home those who should be in the workforce
January 16, 2012
The Sydney Morning Herald - Kathryn Kenny - January 16, 2012 When most childcare centres cost $100 a day or more, the tax rebate (capped at $7500 per child) cuts out after day three. When you have two children to care for, and when working more than three days takes you into a higher tax bracket, you are almost at the point of paying to go to work...

Childcare safety risk
January 16, 2012
The Mercury - Hannah Martin - January 15, 2012 Tasmanian childcare operators have been busted with unregistered carers and for failing to have enough staff supervising children on excursions, a Sunday Tasmanian investigation reveals. Eleven cases of serious safety breaches were investigated by the Department...