G8 Education has UBS, Allens on hand for advice
Financial Review - Sarah Thompson, Anthony Macdonald - July 16, 2018
It's not just outsiders talking about potential private equity interest in G8 Education. It is understood the whispers have made their way into G8 Education's boardroom, run by former PwC Australia managing partner Mark Johnson. The board has tapped investment bank UBS and law firm Allens...
Toy Guns in the Crosshairs
Newcastle Herald - Jeff Corbett - July 15, 2108
The childcare industry in NSW is discouraging childcare centres from allowing children to play with toy guns and swords and such, and you'll understand the reasoning if you've noticed that the overwhelming majority of small girls who play with dolls become mothers...
Paedophile Mark Christopher Harvey, whose offending sparked Debelle Inquiry, eligible for parole
Gold Coast Bulletin - Sean Fewster - July 15, 2018
THE childcare worker whose crimes ruined the lives of four girls and revealed systemic government failure in dealing with sex abuse cases is eligible for release next month. Both the State Government and Opposition have taken a “wait and see” approach to convicted paedophile Mark Christopher Harvey, whose crimes sparked the Debelle Inquiry...
Harry Triguboff‘s Surfers Paradise beachfront tower Ocean to include childcare centre for 75 kids
Gold Coast Bulletin - Suzanne Simonot - July 14, 2018
HIGH-RISE king Harry Triguboff is set to deliver locals what could very well be the most desirably located childcare centre on the Gold Coast. Mr Triguboff's planned 73-level super-tower Ocean — his first beachfront project in his 54-year career — will include a brand new child care centre in its mix....
Kindergartens lobbying for extended government subsidies
The Courier Mail - Lauren Martyn-Jones - July 14, 2018
KINDERGARTENS are lobbying the Government to extend subsidised pre-school programs to all Australian three-year-olds, arguing it would help solve Australia's literacy numeracy crisis. A new analysis of NAPLAN data by Goodstart Early Learning, the country's largest childcare operator...
The Southport School settles discrimination claim out of court
The Courier Mail - Vanda Carson - July 14, 2018
A HOPE Island mum whose autistic son was rejected for enrolment at a prestigious Queensland private boys' school's preschool has quietly settled her $100,000 claim for “hurt and humiliation” out of court for an undisclosed sum. Lisa Douglas sued the Anglican Church-run The Southport School (TSS)...
5 Things Schools Should Know About Early-Years Education
Schools Week UK - Alison Peacock - July 14, 2018
Children get profound, long-lasting benefits from their earliest exposure to teaching, from academic and non-cognitive development to better health and careers later in life. Research also shows that their teachers' professional development is key, says Alison Peacock...
Demand for daycare grows at Sanctuary Point
South Coast Register - Rebecca Fist - July 13, 2018
Sanctuary Point is increasingly becoming a sanctuary for families, placing more demand on local child care services.
For at least three years the books have been full and there has been a waiting list at Sanctuary Point Children's Centre...
Sydney grandparents cut back work hours to take up childcare duties
The Sydney Morning Herald - Pallavi Singhal - July 13, 2018
Grandparents in Sydney are cutting back their own working hours and taking up extra childcare duties to help families with the rising cost of daycare. Christine Moroney, 63, who lives in Berala, said she moved from full-time work as an audiologist to three days a week...
Breastfeeding V Formula in Childhood Obesity Debate
Mercury - Chris Pippos - July 14, 2018
INFANT formula and toddler milks are contributing to Australia's obesity epidemic, Breastfeeding Coalition Tasmania has warned a Canberra committee inquiry. The Hobart group says there is growing concern about the aggressive marketing of such products, adding they are often unnecessary and linked to overweight children...
Australia fines parents who don't vaccinate kids. Should Canada?
CTV News - Meredith MacLeod - July 12, 2018
The Australian government is jabbing deeper at the wallets of parents who don't vaccinate their children. The country already has a “No Jab, No Pay” policy but a tougher version took effect July 1. It cuts child benefit payments by AUD$28 every two weeks for each child who isn't immunized...
The program giving Indigenous families more power
Canberra Times - Katie Burgess - July 14, 2018
Aboriginal families at risk of losing their children are receiving extra help to keep their families together, under a pilot program introduced by the ACT government. Indigenous families now have the option of holding a group family conference with child protection workers when important decisions are made about their child's future...
Queensland govt defends 'pandemic leave'
Herald Sun - Stuart Layt - July 13, 2018
The policy, reported in The Courier-Mail, has been criticised by Queensland's Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which says government workers already have some of the best leave entitlements in the western world. 'It is worth reminding the Government, whose largesse is paid...
Public servants get extra month of sick leave if flu pandemic strikes
The Courier Mail - Natasha Bita - July 13, 2018
Bureaucrats will be able to use up to a month''s bonus leave to stay home on full pay if they can't get public transport to work, or if their child's school or daycare centre shuts down during a flu pandemic. "Where employees need to care for their children due to closure of schools or childcare...
Cheap G8 Education has childcare tyrekickers looking sideways
Financial Review - Sarah Thompson & Anthony Macdonald - July 13, 2018
As bankers and financial investors brush up on the Australian child care market, you have to wonder whether dealmaking activity will stretch beyond the up-for-sale Affinity Education. Because if Affinity Education's hopefuls looks sideways - and have deep enough pockets...
The IT glitch causing 'extreme financial hardship' as parents are forced to pay full price before they can claim Child Care Subsidy
Daily Mail - Bryant Hevesi - July 12, 2018
Furious parents have lashed out at a new system to claim the Child Care Subsidy after an IT glitch meant they had to shell out hundreds of extra dollars. The Centrelink Express app and online accounts went into meltdown last week, just as new changes to how the childcare rebate...
'I can't afford this': Parents slam new child care subsidy rollout.
MamaMia - Nama Winston - July 12, 2018
Questioning why there was a push from the government for family details to be updated so urgently when the software and administrative capabilities were not in place, it is no comfort to Amrita that she is not alone in her experience. Since July, 2, technical difficulties in the application of the rebate...
Up 550pc: Young rich lister's childcare app has a growth spurt
Sydney Morning Herald - Cara Waters - July 12, 2018
The government's sweeping reforms to childcare, which kicked off on July 1, have also boosted technology startup Xplor, which has raised $4.5 million to fuel its growth. "It has been a very, very busy and hectic ride", Xplor's founder and chief executive Mark Woodland told Fairfax Media...
Is this why country people are happier than us?
Courier Mail - Brendan O'Malley - July 11, 2018
It said development of units, childcare centres and other facilities was replacing spaces people once used to come together as a community. The problem was exacerbated when some groups were reluctant to share. "These buildings are now being converted for commercial ventures for things...
Childcare subsidy changes add red tape for families and providers
ABC News - Liam McNicholas - July 11, 2018
Last Monday, the Coalition Government's revised Child Care Subsidy came into effect. Now, services and families are realising that, far from cutting red tape, the new system could indeed be described as "drowning" in it. This probably comes as a shock to anyone who's listened...
Parents launch petition to save Sir Philip Baxter child care centre in Woollahra
The Daily Telegraph - Emily Macdonald - July 11, 2018
A petition has been prepared to send to Woollahra council to find a way to save the 40-year-old centre which is a bedrock of its community after the Benevolent Society suddenly announced last month it would sell the site and redistribute funds to other communities. The petition states...
Mandatory child abuse reporting for Victorian childcare workers
Sydney Morning Herald - Noel Towell & Melissa Cunningham - July 10, 2018
Childcare workers in Victoria will be legally obliged to report suspicions of sexual abuse of youngsters in their care as part of the state government's response to the child sex abuse royal commission. The Andrews government may also make it a crime for priests to keep the...
Gunnedah needs more early childhood teachers and space for children aged 0-2
Naomi Valley Independent - Vanessa Höhnke - July 10, 2018
NSW TAFE is predicting that child care teaching is set to become one of the fastest growing occupations in Gunnedah. Mary Ranken Child Care Centre's Fiona Langdon said there was currently a shortage of early childhood teachers who are required for school readiness...
Childcare centres sending kids home with dinner boxes to help exhausted parents
Women's Agenda - Angela Priestley - July 10, 2018
One childcare operator is now offering $5 dinner boxes to parents when picking up their kids from their centres. The initiative comes from Learn and Laugh Children's Centres, co-founded by Lilach Weininger, who knows firsthand how over-it working parents can be after a long...
Autism program to help kinder kids get ready for school
Herald Sun - Andrew Rogers - July 10, 2018
So Ms Ryan and therapist Liz Shaw started William Ready, a program that was designed to complement William's experiences at mainstream kindergarten. "It all basically just started because we wanted something in addition to kinder. To build on those skills, for kids on...
Tennis - Player wellbeing eclipses childcare for WTA
SBS - July 9, 2018
The issue of setting up more on-site childcare facilities, however, is unlikely to be resolved as quickly. The WTA's senior director for athlete assistance, Kathy Martin, explained that the body's responsibility was to ensure the physical, mental and emotional wellbeing of its athletes...
We've been having the wrong conversation about childcare changes
Women's Agenda - Neela Janakiramanan - July 9, 2018
What I have noticed is that these conversations are based on myths and outright lies spread by the government in promoting this new package. Firstly, means testing is not some glorious form of income redistribution where money flows like warm honey from those who can...
Why women don't return to work after baby
The Daily Telegraph - Vanessa Marsh - July 9, 2018
NEW mums are returning to the workforce at an unprecedented rate with more than three quarters of working mothers going back to their previous job. But industry experts have warned Australia still has a long way to go to catch up to other developed countries, with high childcare...
Retail Food Group could be a target for Champ Private Equity
The Australian - Bridget Carter & Scott Murdoch - July 9, 2018
Elsewhere, suitors for Affinity Education submitted bids for the business in the Luminis Partners-run contest last Thursday. Bain Capital, which owns Only About Children and Partners Group, is thought to be an interested buyer. However, the party that some have pinpointed as the...
Confusion over new childcare regulations, amid administrative and IT glitches
The West Australian - Phoebe Wearne & Rhianna Mitchell - July 8, 2018
Several WA childcare providers are scrambling to resolve administration and IT glitches before the first invoices incorporating the new Child Care Subsidy go out to parents. Parents and providers faced confusion this week as they switched to the Federal Government's childcare rebate...
