Following the recent release of an evaluation report, commissioned by the Federal Department of Education, a number of early childhood education and care (ECEC) peak body representatives, and aligned groups, have shared their perspectives on the variable impacts of the Child Care Subsidy (CCS) on Australian families.

Federal Member for Wide Bay, a Queensland region located north of Brisbane, Mr Llew O’Brien has welcomed recent funding which will see $330,000 flow into the area to support improved access to child care.

The cost of childcare across Australia has risen by 1.0 per cent in the three months ending June 2019 compared to the three months ending March 2019 and is 7.9 per cent lower than the same period last year, according to the latest Consumer Price Index release by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The Department of Social Services have released the 2019 findings from their annual Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey (HILDA) in which considerable emphasis is placed on the topic of paid child care in particular the use of care, the factors that drive families to engage with care, difficulties experienced with care and expenditure on care.

The Padstow campus of TAFE New South Wales has recently opened an early learning centre (ELC) which is for the exclusive use of those TAFE students attending the Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP) at TAFE.