Funding to neighbourhood-based occasional child care was cut in the last federal budget. While most states have picked up the slack, Victorian centres are set to close. Mothers and support groups are unhappy, writes Iona Salter.
Childcare
Mungo MacCallum: Mungo: Rudd slowly shedding Dr Jekyll image in favour of Hyde
We are still getting glimpses of the old Kevin ‘07, the avuncular figure who won the nation’s trust a mere three years ago. But it is a safe bet that in the weeks ahead we will see rather less of Mr Nice Guy.
Irvine: Good childcare = more working women? Duh…
We need to stop wasting our women workers, mothers who want to work but won’t because of expensive and poor quality childcare. Perhaps if we had more senior government women, we’d already have this by now, writes Jessica Irvine.
Why is Australia dragging the chain on tackling health inequality?
Australian policy makers could learn a thing or two from a landmark report aimed at tackling inequalities in health that was released in the UK yesterday, writes Melissa Sweet.
It is late on Christmas Eve, Malcolm sleeps soundly until…
Hmm? What is it?
The Groves debacle takes ABC into Australian corporate history
ABC Learning’s failure may be remember as one of Australia’s most notorious corporate meltdowns, writes Adam Schwab.
Mem Fox: standing up for the babies
Parents have an absolute right to put their babies into care but shouldn’t they be allowed to make — at the very least — a well-informed decision?, asks Mem Fox.
Ok, but how will Rudd’s childcare centres actually work?
There are practical concerns over how Rudd’s childcare centres would actually operate, and what their benefits would be, writes Bernard Keane.
$11.9 billion per annum: costing Rudd’s child care plan
Kevin Rudd’s plan for one-stop shop for childcare centres would undoubtedly have significant benefits but it’s still “uncosted” and no one appears to have made a stab at working out how much… until now. Bernard Keane crunches the numbers.
