Human Services glitch hits pockets of childcare providers
Canberra Times - Doug Dingwall - June 26, 2019
Childcare providers have been out of pocket after a Human Services Department error left them unpaid hundreds of dollars over nearly two weeks. A government subsidy for parents, sent directly to their childcare providers, failed to arrive for about 100 Canberra- and Queanbeyan-based educators for...
Canberra childcare centres' understaffing investigated by regulator, serious failures found
ABC News - Jake Evans - June 26, 2019
Two years of investigations into preschools and early childhood centres in Canberra have linked widespread understaffing to serious safety incidents, including one where a child wandered away from the centre and ran across a road unnoticed. In the worst instances exposed by the regulator's investigations...
Childcare worker to stand trial for sex offences against young girl
Sydney Morning Herald - June 25, 2019
A Wodonga childcare worker will stand trial on charges with sex offences against a young girl. Bumble Bees worker Lucas Jacob Garratt allegedly abused the girl multiple times while babysitting her in her Border home on August 28 last year. He had looked after the alleged victim through the childcare centre...
Globe Wilkins Preschool saved from closure
Inner West Courier - Heath Parkes-Hupton - June 25, 2019
A Marrickville preschool facing down a possible closure has been "saved", NSW Education Minister Sarah Mitchell announced today. Following a year-long campaign from parents, Ms Mitchell visited the Globe Wilkins Preschool on McRae St to announce it would receive a new two-year lease at the site...
Former Ballarat childcare centre set for conversion as GovHub area takes shape
The Courier - Jolyon Attwooll - June 25, 2019
Two Armstrong Street properties went under the hammer last night at an in-room auction for a combined total of more than $2 million. The former Occasional Child-Care Centre at 112 Armstrong Street was sold for $1.225 million while the building currently leased by Ballarat Insurance brokers went for $985,000...
Samoan-English bi-lingual program connects children to culture
The Sector - Freya Lucas - June 25, 2019
A Logan City bi-lingual kindergarten, located in South East Queensland, has been working to connect young Samoan children with their heritage, language and culture. The success of the program, which is a collaboration between Hosanna Logan City Church and Goodstart Early Learning, has attracted the attention...
Central Coast flu cases up by more than 20 per cent
The Daily Telegraph - Catherine Stubbs, Central Coast Gosford Express Advocate - June 24, 2019
Health authorities said flu cases continue to rise across the board and urged people to get their free influenza vaccine, particularly small children under 5. NSW Health Director of Communicable Disease, Dr Vicky Sheppeard, says 115 children have been admitted to Children's Hospital Westmead with flu this year...
Former Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop to head up children's research institute
Former Australian Foreign Affairs Minister, the Hon Julie Bishop, is set to chair the West Australian based Telethon Kids Institute come 20 August 2019. Research initiatives of note to the early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector include but are not limited to work on understanding...
Free preschool in Canberra for vulnerable kids
The Canberra Times - Sherryn Groch - June 24, 2019
Four hundred vulnerable children will receive subsidised preschool places next year as part of the first phase of the ACT's $10 million plan to roll out universal kindergarten to three year olds. Every second, a toddler's brain forges more than a million new neural connections - making early education critical...
Kindergarteners at risk under current road safety legislation
The Herald Sun - Rebecca Di Nuzzo, Progress Leader - June 24, 2019
Frightened parents want a dangerous "loophole" in the state's road laws closed after a number of near-misses outside a busy suburban kindergarten. The speed limit outside all schools in the state is restricted to 40km/h but kindergartens are not included. Rosanna Kirn said she was prompted...
Sydney doctor calls for both tiers of Government to change ECEC vaccination rules
The Sector - Freya Lucas - June 24 2019
Speaking with the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC), Sydney doctor, Bob Kass, has called for the Australian Government to change recommendations in relation to measles vaccinations for children attending early childhood education and care (ECEC) services...
Online tool launched to help parents prevent food allergies
Brisbane Times - Rachel Clun - June 24, 2019
Jenny Ayoub's son Oscar was just nine-months-old when she discovered just how serious his dairy allergy was. After he was accidentally exposed to baby food containing a small amount of cheese, Oscar developed anaphylaxis - a severe allergic reaction that can be deadly. A national health campaign ...
Hundreds of childcare centres charging above government's top subsidy rate
The Sydney Morning Herald - Judith Ireland - June 23, 2019
Hundreds of childcare centres are charging more than the government's hourly subsidy cap for daycare fees, with childcare operators saying families in Sydney and Melbourne are wearing the highest out-of-pocket costs. The Department of Education says about 10 per cent of Australia's 7765 centre...
Private developer targets Stockland's Elara town centre
Financial Review - Ingrid Fuary-Wagner - June 23, 2019
Listed developer Stockland is close to offloading the yet-to-be-built town centre at the heart of its Elara masterplanned residential development in Sydney's Marsden Park. The 2.5 hectare site will be anchored by a Coles supermarket and is to also have a fitness, childcare and medical centre...
Back to nature: Children reap benefits of braving the cold
The Age - Henrietta Cook - June 23, 2019
It's eight degrees and children at Diamond Creek Memorial Kindergarten are stomping in puddles, making mud soup and running through the morning drizzle. They are rugged up in rain jackets, gumboots and matching waterproof overalls. It's a scene that didn't exist four years ago. Back then...