Call for additional Tasmanian child and family centres
The Advocate - Michelle Wisbey - August 16, 2017
The Labor Party has called on the government to commit to building additional child and family centres in the wake of the school starting age reversal. In Parliament on Wednesday, Opposition education spokeswoman Michelle O'Byrne questioned Education Minister Jeremy Rockliff on whether he would...
Tasmanian backdown on lower school age applauded, but concerns about funding linger
ABC News - August 15, 2017
Early childhood provider and campaigner Linda Wooldridge told ABC Radio while she was happy with the backflip, funding for the pre-school plan should be distributed equitably. "Access is a problem for higher income families as well as disadvantaged families so I think we have a real opportunity...
Keiraville Community Preschool director really concerned about oversupply
Illawarra Mercury - Agron Latifi - August 15, 2017
An increasing number of NSW childcare centres that have been around for decades are now going out of business due to too many vacancies. Keiraville Community Preschool, which has been operating since 1952, is safe for the moment but the oversupply issue is definitely on director...
Think Childcare Ltd share price sinks on half-year result release
The Motley Fool - James Mickleboro - August 15, 2017
Despite a difficult first-half for the childcare sector, I felt this was a solid result from Think Childcare and feel quite surprised with the share price decline. Think's management labelled the challenging environment as a perfect storm, highlighting three elements which came together...
Tasmanian Government backs away from lowering school starting age
ABC News - August 15, 2017
The Tasmanian Government has ditched plans to lower the school starting age to three-and-a-half. Education Minister Jeremy Rockliff used social media to outline a different plan, saying the Government had listened to the community. On Facebook, he explained the Government had...
Queensland childcare centres are breaking down gender stereotypes
The Courier Mail - Jackie Sinnerton - August 14, 2017
The gender-neutral shift in early learning has been investigated by Swedish researchers. Findings published in the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology reveal children in these centres are more likely to play with unfamiliar children of the opposite sex and are less influenced...
Anti-vaxx campaign: Parents share tragic stories of losing babies to help raise immunisation rates
Sunday Telegraph - Jane Hansen - August 13, 2017
HEARTBROKEN parents have shared the tragic stories of losing their babies to whooping cough as part of a new national campaign aimed at raising immunisation rates and fighting online anti-vax propaganda. The $5.5 million 'Get the Facts about Immunisation' campaign, launched today...
Reduce rents to bring down childcare fees: Goodstart
Daily Telegraph - Lanai Scarr - August 12, 2017
THE country's largest non-profit childcare provider has called on all levels of governments to reduce the cost of rent for childcare facilities as a way to ease prices for parents. Goodstart Early Learning, which runs 645 child care centres around the country, said while wages are the highest cost...
Union poll reveals most Tasmanians reject lowering school starting age
ABC News - Annah Fromberg - August 12, 2017
A poll of 1,000 Tasmanians has shown about 75 per cent oppose the Liberal Government's plan to lower the school starting age. The Liberals want to reduce the compulsory school starting age by six months, which would push the voluntary kindergarten starting age down to three and a half...
McKellar childcare site at Walkley Place on the market
Domain - Ray Sparvell - August 11, 2017
"There is plenty of demand for childcare centres and it's not showing any signs of slowing down." The Burgess Rawson boss says part of the drive for new centres was that older facilities no longer met modern needs. "A lot of the older facilities were, in essence, child-minding houses," he says...
Grandparents isolated by full time child care; Bega Playability provides respite
Bega District - Alana Beitz - August 11, 2017
A growing number of grandparents are sacrificing their retirement plans to provide full time care to their grandchildren. The reasons behind their circumstances are varied, but the isolation of returning to full time child care is shared among them. Older than the other parents at playgroup...
ACCC warns merger between two of the largest after-school care companies could lead to higher fees
ABC News - Ursula Malone - August 11, 2017
A proposed merger between two of the nation's largest after-school care companies could result in higher fees and lower quality care, the competition watchdog has found. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has released a negative preliminary report on Camp Australia's bid...
Government, like voters, must live within its means
The Australian - August 11, 2017
The failure of most state governments to secure domestic gas supplies is an obvious example. Another is the impact of federal childcare subsidies. However popular, especially with politicians who relish the excellent photo opportunities they offer, subsidies are an incentive for the sector to raise costs, as the...
Talking Point: Evidence shows starting school earlier does not help outcomes
The Mercury - Michelle O'Byrne - August 11, 2017
LEADING early childhood expert Steve Biddulph nailed it when commenting on Tasmania's baffling move to lower the school starting age to 3½ years.
"Australia as a whole is out of step with the world," Mr Biddulph said nine months ago when the new starting age was being hotly debated...
Government controls put their hands in our pockets
The Australian - David Uren - August 10, 2017
Childcare is one of the worst examples. Fees have risen 45 per cent in the past five years, or almost 10 times the average rate of private sector inflation. The childcare quality framework introduced by the Gillard government significantly raised costs by imposing minimum qualifications and staff ratios...
Dads also needed in childcare Campaign for "Families"
Women's Agenda - Kristine Ziwica - August 10, 2017
A campaign featuring only mums reinforces the view that childcare is a 'women's issue', rather than a family issue. Just last week a column in the Sydney Morning Herald made the rounds imploring us to stop calculating the costs and benefits of childcare as a percentage of the mother's salary...
Folkestone Education Trust wary of rising childcare costs
Financial Review - Nick Leneghan - August 9, 2017
The country's biggest listed owner of childcare properties, Folkestone Education Trust, has warned that the rising cost of living is taking a toll on occupancy, as parents count their pennies. Despite the warning, FET booked a healthy 9.6 per cent rise in full year distributable income to $37.8 million, on the back of...
New campaign challenges body image language for preschool girls
Herald Sun - Brigid O'Connell - August 9, 2017
SHE is pretty brave, pretty talented and pretty kind. It's a subtle language change, but one national campaign is helping Australian parents make to better teach their daughters to value their skills and inner qualities, rather than their looks. With research showing more than half of preschool-aged girls...
Enforce 'no jab, no pay' at schools: AMA
News.com.au - Greg Roberts - August 9, 2017
The Australian Medical Association has suggested stripping funding from schools that do not actively promote vaccinating students amidst a potential measles outbreak. The West Australian government issued a citywide health alert last week when an unvaccinated high school student returned to Perth...
A Postcode Should Not Shape A Person's Destiny
Huffington Post - Andrew Leigh - August 9, 2017
But over the past generation, we have seen the opposite trend. Since the mid-1970s, real wages have grown by 72 percent for the top tenth of workers, but by just 23 percent for the bottom tenth. If child care workers and cleaners had received the same wage gains as financiers and solicitors, they would...
Strong demand continues but concerns about interest rate hikes rising
Financial Review - Su-Lin Tan - August 8, 2017
Commercial property continues to sell on tight yields, despite investor concerns about tighter lending and potential interest rate hikes, the latest commercial auctions show. At the Burgess Rawson auction on Tuesday, childcare properties continued to dominate. A Gymea childcare...
Helping directors keep ahead of the fast pace of change is the name of the game for the AICD, Dr Roger Sexton says
The Advertiser - Cameron England - August 8, 2017
Dr Sexton said last year David Chiem, founder of MindChamps, spoke at the Fellows' Dinner about what he was doing with early childcare centres in Singapore, the Middle East and the Philippines, and how he was educating children for the job market in 2030. "The job market in 2030 is going...
Why a Perth childcare centre lets kids to sleep outside, even when its rainy
Yahoo 7 News - August 7, 2017
A WA childcare centre has raised eyebrows by taking children to sleep outside during nap time, even in drizzly conditions. Little Learners in Perth, which cares for babies to five-year-old children, believes an outdoor sleeping policy benefits the kids and reduces absences by the common cold...
Australians are paying more for childcare than mortgages and food, leading to calls for action
Daily Telegraph - Lanai Scarr - August 6, 2017
CHILDCARE costs are driving Australian families to breaking point with an exclusive survey for News Corp Australia finding close to 40 per cent are paying more than or equal to their mortgage in out of pocket payments each week. Close to a third are paying double their grocery bills - after...
Teachers need more training to deal with problematic sexual behaviour
Sydney Morning Herald - Alexandra Smith - August 6, 2017
Children as young as five are displaying worrying sexual behaviour at school, prompting concerns that teachers are ill-equipped to differentiate between whether students are victims of sexual abuse or are imitating what they see in music videos or internet advertising, new research reveals...
Childcare centres locate 'outdoor' play centres inside due to space constraints
Herald Sun - Susie O'Brien - August 6, 2017
CHILDCARE centres are offering outdoor play spaces that are located inside, contributing to "nature deficit disorder" among children, education experts say. The Education Department has confirmed three Melbourne childcare centres have been granted exemptions from national standards...
Childcare costs are crippling families. Time to step up and fix a broken system
The Mercury - Lanai Scarr - August 6, 2017
We often lament that there are not more women in the workforce but how are we supposed to even begin fixing that when our childcare system is fundamentally broken? Even when the government's legislated childcare changes come into force in July 2018, families on a combined household...
Most Perth children not active enough: University of WA research
Perth Now - Regina Titelius - August 6, 2017
FEWER than a third of Perth preschoolers are active for at least three hours a day, a new study measuring childhood body movement shows. University of WA population health researcher Dr Hayley Christian said the "alarming" revelation should prompt the introduction of activity guidelines at...
Meditation a winner for some young
Sydney Morning Herald - Amanda Phelan - August 5, 2017
There is a push to get mindfulness meditation on the school curriculum across Australia by 2020, says Dr Addie Wootten, a clinical psychologist and chief executive of the non-profit meditation program, Smiling Mind. "Our mental health is as important as our physical health," Dr Wootten says...
The anti-vaccination danger
Herald Sun - August 3, 2017
Digital access has enabled the spread of the anti-vaccination movement and its manipulation of information to confect false theories dressed as fact and aimed at scaring vulnerable people. In response, the Australian and Victorian governments have adopted policies to encourage misinformed or negligent...
