More than 500 early learning and outside school hours care services across NSW and Victoria were visited without warning this week as regulators stepped up efforts to strengthen child safety in childcare settings. Here’s what parents need to know about the latest compliance blitz —...
The number of “serious incidents” in Australian early childhood services – including long daycare – is increasing, reports, Erin Harper According to a new Productivity Commission report, there were 160 such incidents per 100 services in 2024-25. This is up from 148 and 139 in the previous...
A new study shows little kids who count on their fingers do better at maths, reports Jennifer Way and Katherin Cartwright If you ask a small child a simple maths question, such as 4+2, they may count on their fingers to work it out. Should we encourage...
Once considered “just care,” early learning is under growing pressure to deliver quality education for children under five. The need is clear: 90% of brain development happens before age five, and children who attend high-quality early learning are 40% more likely to be developmentally on track...
A push to raise the school starting age to 6 sounds like good news for parents, write Amanda Niland and Marianne Fenech. But there’s a catch The decision about whether to send a child to school “early” or “hold them back” can be a tortuous one...
Australia’s preschool expansion ‘has not better prepared’ kids for school, report researchers Ragan Petrie and Marco Castillo Since 2008, Australia has spent more than A$11 billion dollars over ten years to expand government-funded preschool (or kinder in Victoria) for four-year-olds to better prepare children for school. But...
How this Canadian program could help address Australia’s childcare staff shortage, write researchers Marg Rogers, Laura K. Doan and Navjot Bhullar. On Wednesday, federal parliament passed Labor’s bill to reduce childcare fees for many Australian families. More affordable childcare for families is great, but it will not...
Is this the game-changer for Aussie kids? Asks Wendy Boyd and Michelle M. Neumann Shutterstock Celebrations greeted Thursday’s co-ordinated announcement by the NSW and Victorian governments that they will invest $6 billion and $9 billion, respectively, to provide 30 hours a week of play-based learning for all...
Staff and children in preschool and childcare aren’t being protected like in schools. We need a national plan, writes Thea van de Mortel By late January, more than 400 early learning centres were closed across the country due to the Omicron wave, and many more were...
Kate Noble and Sarah Pilcher report that many families in Victoria, Queensland and New South Wales have been paying around double what families in other states and territories pay for preschool. Median out of pocket costs for preschool, per hour, range from A$2.82 to $3.82 in...
