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THE MESSAGE. BRINGING INTO FOCUS FILIPINO PRESENCE IN AUSTRALIA
www.kalatas.com.au | Volume 7 Number 1 | OCTOBER 2016
STATE
Making quality childcare
more affordable
Children are better prepared for school if they have
attended preschool so it was great to visit Wunanbiri
preschool at Alexandria to announce the biggest single
preschool fee reduction in the state’s history.
Premier Mike Baird and Minister Leslie Williams at preschool
As part of the Government’s commitment to provide
universal access to quality early childhood education, fees
will be reduced to an average $22 per day
We want to ensure
children start their first day of
kindergarten with the social,
cognitive and emotional skills
that will give them their best
possible start. Research shows
that children who receive
a quality early childhood
education in the year before
they start school are better
prepared for the change when
they start school.
We have listened to
parents and it’s clear one of the
challenges they face in sending
their children to preschool
has been the level of fees.
This announcement will give
parents an average 30 per cent
discount, encouraging more to
send their kids to preschool.
As part of the
Government’s commitment
to provide universal access
to quality early childhood
education, fees will be reduced
to an average $22 per day
when a child is enrolled for
a minimum 15 hours per
week. We’re able to provide
the discount through a $115
million funding boost that
WELCOME
NSW Premier | @MikeBairdMP
will enable more children to
participate in early childhood
education in community
preschools and long day
care centres. From 1 January
2017, community preschools
across the state that enroll
four and five year olds for at
least 600 hours in the year
before school will also receive
increased subsidies from the
Government.
Preschools will be
contractually required to pass
on at least three-quarters of
additional funding in the form
of reduced fees as a result of
the Government’s initiatives,
resulting in fee discounts of an
average 30 per cent per child.
The announcement also
stems from feedback the
Government received from
the Auditor-General, who
recommended funding be
tied to enrolments of at least
600 hours per year, and also
recommended removing the
barriers currently preventing
some parents from sending
their four or five year olds to
preschool in the year before
they started school.
The funding will make
early childhood education
more affordable and remove
almost all fees for children
from Aboriginal and lowincome families at preschools.
While, NSW remains a
top attraction for Chinese
tourists and we’re meeting
the demand by increasing
the number of Sydney flights
offered by one of China’s
biggest airlines. The latest
service from Hainan Airlines
touched down at Sydney
Airport this week, as part of a
promotional partnership for
twice-weekly services from
Changsha and Xi’an. There
was an impressive 21 per cent
increase in Chinese visitors to
NSW in the year to June and
this latest deal is expected to
bring an extra 52,000 people
to the state each year. Chinese
visitors want to experience
our beautiful city, harbor and
beaches for themselves and
this deal will open up our state
to these two major cities in
China.
to a regular
column with Department of
Human Services General
Manager, Hank Jongen.
Here you can find out
important information about
the Australian Government
Department of Human Services
Department of Human
General Manager
Services, which includes
Centrelink, Medicare and Child Support.
TALKING HUMAN SERVICES
ERVICESS
HANK JONGEN
Australian Citizenship tests
now available in some regional areas
A successful partnership between the
Department of Human Services and the
Department of Immigration and Border
Protection (DIBP) means