HomeCo bulks up healthcare portfolio ahead of float
The Australian Financial Review - Larry Schlesinger - May 17, 2021
Home Consortium has lifted the value of its healthcare portfolio to almost $500 million after striking deals to acquire a medical centre in Moreton Bay and two childcare centres in Brisbane and Sydney. In Woolloongabba, in inner Brisbane, HomeCo has acquired the Busy Bees ...
Ecco Ripley estate: New child care centre with capacity for 154 kids approved on Brooking Rise
The Courier Mail - Lachlan McIvor - May 17, 2021
A NEW child care centre with capacity for 154 kids has been approved in a residential estate in the booming Ripley Valley and another could also be built next door. Ipswich City Council has given the green light to construct the two-storey facility in the Ecco Ripley estate ...
Historic Norwood mansion could be used for childcare centre for up to 90 children
The Advertiser - Ben Cameron - May 17, 2021
A proposal to transform a historic 100-year-old mansion in Norwood that was “built to impress” into a childcare centre for up to 90 children has drawn the ire of nearly 30 local residents. Parolin Project Strategy has applied to Norwood, Payneham & St Peters Council’s assessment...
Worker shortage has led to more childcare operators ignoring staff-to-child ratios
The Daily Telegraph - James Campbell - May 16, 2021
The proportion of childcare operators being given a pass by authorities to ignore staffing rules designed to protect children has almost doubled across Australia since 2018. The growing workforce shortages come as data released last month by the Australian Children’s Education ...
HomeCo acquires $133.2m worth of health and childcare properties
Business News Australia - Matt Ogg - May 17, 2021
HomeCo has completed the $13 million acquisition of a childcare centre leased to Busy Bees in the Brisbane suburb of Woolloongabba, and recently exchanged contracts for a $10.2 million childcare centre in the inner western Sydney suburb of Five Dock which is currently leased...
Families short-changed over childcare subsidies
Herald Sun - Tom Minear - May 16, 2021
Victorian families have been cut off from taxpayer-funded childcare support because their subsidies were used up during last year’s lockdown — when their kids had to stay home. The federal government is now investigating its bungle as parents and the opposition demand urgent action ...
Tas childcare options at breaking point, subsidy change threatens boil-over
The Examiner - Brinley Duggan - May 15, 2021
North and North-West families and carers most impacted by the federal government's childcare subsidy have queried whether it will aid the childcare system in the region...
Finally, an ongoing commitment to funding preschool. But the conditions are hazy and ill-defined
The Conversation - Lennie Barblett, Edith Cowan University - May 14, 2021
he 2021-22 budget includes funding for 15 hours per week of free preschool education for all children in the year before school. Although in his budget speech, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said there would be $2 billion for preschools, the budget papers specify: the government will ...
Victoria’s ECTs off to a good start thanks to newly announced support measures
The Sector - Freya Lucas - May 14, 2021
Early childhood teachers (ECTs) in Victoria will be given a range of professional development opportunities to ensure their careers “get off to the best possible start,” Education Minister Ingrid Stitt announced yesterday. “Early childhood teachers have incredibly valuable jobs ...
What the budget (and budget reply) tells us about where the major parties stand on issues important to you
ABC News - Jade Macmillan - May 14, 2021
Childcare Labor: Childcare was the focus of last year's budget reply speech, with Mr Albanese outlining a $6.2 billion proposal to deliver cheaper childcare to "virtually every family". Under Labor's policy, the childcare subsidy cap would be scrapped and subsidy rates would be boosted...
Canberra's childcare providers say they're struggling to find and lure qualified staff
ABC News - Madeline Austin and Narda Gilmore - May 14, 2021
Canberra's childcare providers say the sector is struggling to attract skilled workers amid a lack of funding and persistent low wages, leading to severe staff shortages. The ACT's largest childcare provider, Communities@Work, said it had vacancies in all 12 of its centres, while other ...
$2 billion funding agreement to guarantee preschool for Aussie kids
Mirage News - May 13, 2021
The Morrison Government is locking in $2 billion over four years to guarantee $1340 for every Australian child to attend preschool in the year before school. It is the first time in history that Commonwealth funding for preschools will be ongoing, and means federal government funding...
Child care and preschool is getting a boost in the 2021 federal budget. So what's in it for you?
ABC News - Conor Duffy - May 13, 2021
The federal budget included an extra $1.7 billion five-year spend for child care, and $1.6 billion for universal preschool access. The childcare measures fall short of the universal free system that some parents got used to during lockdowns, but there's still relief in some form...
‘Insulting’ and ‘degrading’: budget funding for childcare may help families but educators are still being paid pennies
The Conversation - Tamara Cumming - May 12, 2021
The government has committed an additional A$1.7 billion over five years to reduce the cost of childcare for around 250,000 families with more than one child. Another $1.6 billion is going into ensuring each four-year-old child gets 15 hours of preschool a week. But these budget announcements...
Scott Morrison’s ‘family friendly’ budget lashed by new analysis
News.com.au - Samantha Maiden - May 12, 2021
Scott Morrison’s claim he’s handed down a family-friendly budget has been smashed by a new analysis claiming the vast majority of parents will be better off under Labor’s childcare changes. The Prime Minister has unveiled a $1.7 billion childcare change in the federal budget designed...
Budget business wish list hits and misses
ABC News - The Business - Rachel Pupazzoni - May 12, 2021
"$3.4 billion for women's health and economic security, that's not a bad start, but that half of it's in childcare, and that childcare is put in the basket with economic support for women, I find just really, really disappointing. "It's not a woman's issue, childcare, it's a family issue."...
The stocks set to benefit from budget spending spree
Financial Review - Alex Gluyas - May 12, 2021
The other big winners were aged care and childcare. RBC Capital Markets analysts agreed, highlighting G8 Education as a direct beneficiary from the budget’s childcare initiatives. Plans to increase the childcare subsidy cap rates over several years to a maximum of 95 per cent and lifting...
Federal budget flags $1.6bn education boost for preschools but sets conditions for states
The Guardian - Daniel Hurst - May 11, 2021
The Morrison government will pour $1.6bn into preschool services over the next four years but will set conditions for the states and territories, including attendance targets that are to be decided. The federal government plans to negotiate a new funding agreement to “support continued...
How much you’ll save on childcare after Federal Budget helps families
news.com.au - Samantha Maiden - May 12, 2021
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has raised hopes childcare fee relief for larger families could be fast-tracked after blaming “IT” dramas for the 2022 start date. In a big spending budget that offers little in the way of budget savings to pay down the nation’s deficit, the Morrison Government has ...
Here are the ASX small cap stocks that might get a boost from Budget 2021
Stockhead - Nick Sundich - May 11, 2021
Tonight all eyes will be on Canberra with the handing down of the Federal Budget for 2021 and a number of ASX stocks will be hoping to benefit. While the full budget will only be released tonight, the government has progressively leaked details about promised funding for certain...
Childcare subsidies make up half of new spending for women
Financial Review - Salley Patten - May 11, 2021
The childcare subsidy will be increased by 30 percentage points for second and subsequent children aged five years and under in care, up to a maximum rate of 95 per cent for these children. The annual cap of $10,560 per child per year will be dropped. The government said cutting ...
‘Without childcare, I couldn’t work’: Parents welcome $1.7 billion boost
The Age - Daniella White and David Estcourt - May 11, 2021
Balmain mother Donna O’Neill, 39, has seen too many of her female colleagues’ careers held back simply because of the cost of child care. She has welcomed the federal budget’s $1.7 billion boost to childcare, but thinks more support for all families is needed to help women stay engaged in ...
Federal budget flags $1.6bn education boost for preschools but sets conditions for states
The Guardian - Daniel Hurst - May 11, 2021
The Morrison government will pour $1.6bn into preschool services over the next four years but will set conditions for the states and territories, including attendance targets that are to be decided. The federal government plans to negotiate a new funding agreement to “support continued ...
Free preschool for all and $1.7b childcare boost for families
The Canberra Times - Sally Whyte - May 11, 2021
The government will spend $2 billion to ensure all Australian children, no matter where they live, can access 15 hours a week of fully-funded preschool in the year before starting school. Announced on top the extra $1.7 billion for the childcare subsidy, the early childhood education ...
CCS affordability changes, 4 years of preschool funding and more in Budget 2021/22
The Sector - Jason Roberts - May 11, 2021
In a highly anticipated 2021 Federal Budget the early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector will see a boost from the previously flagged changes to the Child Care Subsidy system confirmed as well as a commitment to extend the funding for the National Partnership on ...
WA Regulatory authority issues reminder to all services after another child is left in a bus
The Sector - Freya Lucas - May 11, 2021
A Department of Communities investigation recently found that a four-year-old child was found left alone unsupervised in a locked service vehicle, after being transported from school to the service premises, resulting in a breach of Section 165 (1) of the National Law for the ...
Childcare worker shortage could get worse with extra subsidies, union says
ABC New England - Patrick Bell and Kristy Reading - May 11, 2021
There are fears an expected surge in demand for childcare places could exacerbate a worker shortage in the sector under changes proposed in the federal budget. The federal government is set to top up money for childcare subsidies by $1.7 billion with the goal of reducing costs ...
What's in the budget? Here are the key measures we already know about
ABC News - Gareth Hutchens - May 11, 2021
Child care: Expanded childcare subsidies worth $1.7 billion. The government will add $1.7 billion, spread over three years, to the childcare spend (the annual childcare budget is $10.3 billion). However, the spending won't come into effect until July 2022. When it does kick in, it'll benefit families ...
Federal Budget 2021: Treasurer announces $1.7bn childcare package – but is it enough?
HRD AU - Jess Bell - May 11, 2021
Campaigners are calling for this year’s Budget to include robust policies to bolster female participation within Australia’s workforce in an attempt to close the country’s gender gap. Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has flagged changes to the childcare subsidy ahead of the Budget release...
Australian women are done waiting. It’s time for a budget that invests in care
The Guardian - Emma Dawson - May 10, 2021
Despite months of advocacy from feminist economists and policy analysts, the government still does not grasp the opportunity of investing in women. The government made much fanfare about its childcare package in one of the typical pre-budget announcements last week, but many ...
