thread: Increase in child care fees - has anyone heard anything???

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  1. #9
    Registered User

    Jan 2009
    5,235

    i read the official ration used to be
    one worker to 8 children
    now the govt has changed that to
    one worker to 5 children (based on reports by early childcare professionals)
    (the finer detail is, is that for the baby;s rooms only, or other agegroups too?)
    and the govt thinks it will push costs up by something minimally (to increase the ratios), but some of the centres disagree.

    i haven't read this, but there may be something extra, like the workers needing to have an early childhood qualification - which means higher pay.
    So i would imagine the centres with the most untrained staff would be having the most problems transitioning to the new rules.

    i suspect each childcare centre will be affected differently, i'm asking ours today. They already have good ratios and mainly trained workers so i don't expect they'll have much to change.

    I met one of the people reporting to the Govt on this issue at our CCC earlier year, they were just collecting data at the time.
    In Qld the ratios are now:
    1:4 babies
    1:5 toddlers (up to 2.5years)
    1:8 (up to 3 years)
    1:12 (up to school age)

    It will now be 1:4 for babies and toddlers up to 2.5
    1:6 for up to 3 years
    1:11 for up to school age

    We had better ratios than other states to begin with. This info is straight from the govt.

    And also what Snuggly said! Note to self, read all previous posts before answering! I do think the 50% staff holding diplomas is a great thing, cuts out those centres with lots of trainees and young staff, which in my experience, while cheaper, NOT better!
    Last edited by Floweryfields; December 14th, 2009 at 05:43 PM.