Child Care News
Surprising benefits of bush kindergarten
Herald Sun - Olivia Jenkins - June 27, 2022Kinder kids who play outside in the bush or at the beach are more likely to perform better in maths, science and technology when they start school. A new study by Deakin University has found that four- and five-year-olds who attended “bush kinder” – where they learn...
Queensland removes last remaining COVID-19 restrictions, unvaxed educators now back
The Sector - Freya Lucas - June 27, 2022The Queensland Government will remove some of its last COVID-19 restrictions from Wednesday, freeing up unvaccinated early childhood education and care (ECEC) professionals to return to work. Effective 1am 30 June 2022, the high-risk worker COVID-19 vaccine...
Let’s help new mothers decide if they want to rush back to work
The Age - Roshena Campbell - June 26, 2022As a country we appear endlessly willing to increase the childcare subsidy pot to get mothers working. The Coalition poured in an extra $3.4 billion in July 2018 with the objective of helping parents to work or work more. As an incentive to increasing workforce participation...
‘Simple and sensible’ childcare move to help parents amid Covid-19, flu season
The Australian - Ellen Ransley - June 24, 2022Childcare places will be held for kids with Covid-19 and gap fees will be waived in a bid to help parents with mounting cost-of-living pressures. Emergency pandemic support measures that were due to expire on June 30 will be extended for another year to help families...
NSW parents to get $150 back-to-school voucher for every child
Kidspot - Laura Aubusson - June 21, 2022All NSW parents with a school-aged child will receive a $150 voucher to spend on uniforms or stationary as part of the state government’s budget. Families struggling with the sky-rocketing cost of living will be handed the cash bonus for every child enrolled in...
All levels of Government agree on amendments to the NQF to commence mid-2023
The Sector - Freya Lucas - June 21, 2022Commonwealth, state and territory education ministers have reached an agreement on changes to be made to the National Quality Framework (NQF), based on findings from the 2019 NQF review, the bulk of which commence mid 2023. Important changes are outlined...
Game-changing reform promises a better future for our children
The Sydney Morning Herald - By Sharon Goldfeld and Anne Hollonds - June 18, 2022Decades of research shows that children will benefit enormously from the year of free early childhood learning announced this week in NSW and Victoria. This is play-based learning, and parents should take comfort in extensive research that shows this is exactly what benefits...
Sector responds favourably to record week of early learning announcements from NSW
The Sector - Freya Lucas - June 17, 2022A number of early childhood education and care (ECEC) peak bodies have shared their responses to a record week of announcements by the New South Wales Government ahead of its Budget, which is due to be released on Tuesday. Responses from core...
Staff shortages threaten Andrews’ $9bn preschool overhaul
The Age - Cara Waters, Adam Carey, Matilda Finn and Marta Pascual Juanola - June 16, 2022Workforce issues could hamper the Andrews government from getting its early learning overhaul off the ground, with promises of more kindergarten hours and places likely to be impacted by a lack of staff. On Thursday, Premier Daniel Andrews announced a $9 billion...
NSW and Victoria commit to “once in a generation” long- term ECEC policy change
The Sector - Freya Lucas - June 16, 2022The Premiers of New South Wales and Victoria have this morning announced that they will add an extra year of play-based learning to the education system in their respective states, to be known as pre-Prep in Victoria and pre-Kindergarten in NSW. Essentially the...
Perrottet continues budget splurge with $1.4bn childcare commitment
The Australian - Max Maddison - June 15, 2022The NSW government will offer families $1.4bn in childcare subsidies over the forward estimates to help ease the cost-of-living crisis and boost the return of women to the workplace. Just a day after committing $5bn over the next decade to create an additional 47,000...
How NSW and Victoria's extra year of education for young children will work
Abc News - Helena Burke - June 15, 2022Plans to create an extra year of class for young children in NSW and Victoria are backed by decades of research, experts say, but details around structure and staffing will be key to its success. Having children as young as four starting school in NSW and Victoria...
How parents in NSW can save $8000 a year on childcare
The Australian - Duncan Murray - June 14, 2022The NSW government will pump around $5bn into childcare over the next decade to help struggling parents cope with cost of living. It is the most significant intervention by a NSW government in the childcare system, which is primarily funded by the federal...
Shift workers shafted by an inflexible childcare system
The Sydney Morning Herald - Katina Curtis - June 13, 2022The federal government plans to increase childcare subsidies for long day care centres and after-school care to help more women into work. Clarke says that is welcome but there will still be “significant gaps that particularly hurt the night-time economy” such as hospitality’s...
Labor considers fast-tracking childcare policy to help families struggling with cost of living
Sky News - Miriah Davies - June 9, 2022Labor could fast-track its election promise of subsidising childcare for families struggling amid skyrocketing cost of living pressures. The signature policy would cost $5.4billion a year and assist more than 1.26 million families by increasing the maximum subsidy rate by...
