Category Archives: Childcare Australia

Secret rating system kept parents in dark about safety fears at NSW childcare centre

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Case in which parents were not told centre was in the ‘very high risk’ cohort illustrates a glaring safety gap, critics argue

A childcare centre in New South Wales was approved as “meeting” government standards in the publicly available rating system, but flagged months later as a “very high risk service” in a secret rating system maintained by the Department of Education, the Guardian can reveal.

The centre, which Guardian Australia is choosing not to name, was flagged by officers from the NSW early childhood regulator as being in the highest risk category of childcare services, after officials visited in May 2024 to investigate a complaint.

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Proposed ‘nation-leading’ NSW childcare reforms to include $500,000 fines

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Greens welcome Minns government’s ‘bare-minimum’ changes but say more work is needed to restore faith in the sector

Large childcare providers found in breach of safety directives will face $500,000 fines – a 900% increase – under new laws to be introduced by New South Wales parliament on Wednesday.

The proposed legislation will grant greater powers to the early childhood regulator to suspend educators and revoke quality ratings in a suite of measures addressing grave concerns about safety in the sector.

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Here is what actually needs to be done to address Australia’s childcare abuse crisis – and politicians can’t say they didn’t know

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Review after review has made recommendations to government that have never been implemented. It’s time to take childcare safety out of the too-hard basket and commit to real reform

On Friday, state education ministers will meet Jason Clare to discuss the thorny and critically important issues facing the country’s childcare sector.

There could not be a more significant moment for the conversations that we are having about the safety of the more than 1 million Australian children who attend childcare.

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Victoria’s urgent childcare review recommendations unveiled: major reforms but no ‘silver bullet’ to stop ‘dangerous individuals’

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Allan government commits to accepting all 22 recommendations, with several also directed at federal government

Major reforms to working with children checks, a new database and regulator, more unannounced visits to childcare centres and an urgent rethink of how the entire early childhood education system is funded have been recommended as part of Victoria’s urgent review into the childcare sector.

The review, written by former South Australian premier Jay Weatherill and senior bureaucrat Pam White, was released in full by the state government on Wednesday.

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Childcare workers with ‘red flags’ should be on database to prevent them ‘shopping around’ for lax centres, inquiry told

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Head of NSW police child sex abuse squad also advises parents to report concerns directly to police – not their childcare centre

The head of the New South Wales police child sexual abuse squad has called for the creation of a national database of childcare workers who have had “red flags” raised that fall short of criminal prosecution.

Giving evidence before a government inquiry into the early childhood education sector in NSW, Det Supt Linda Howlett said such a database would allow centres to share intelligence about former employees who have faced serious allegations that didn’t result in criminal charges. They are still allowed to work with children.

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Labor puts childcare centres on notice after abuse scandal with ‘one strike’ threat to funding

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Legislation will give education department powers to cancel the childcare subsidy if standards fall – and publicise its decision

The prime minister says federal funding and potential cancellation of payments will be used as a threat to “drive the change” for safety in childcare centres, as governments scramble to respond to shocking allegations of abuse in early education centres.

More safety training for childcare workers, CCTV in centres and changes to working with children checks are on the agenda for federal and state authorities. Under new federal legislation revealed on Wednesday, childcare centres could lose federal funding from just one safety breach “strike”.

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Two-year-old girl sexually assaulted at Victorian childcare centre, mother claims

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Exclusive: Worker named by ‘deeply traumatised’ child still has job and has not been charged because no one witnessed the alleged incidents and there was no CCTV

A mother has claimed that her two-year-old daughter was sexually assaulted by a worker at a Victorian childcare centre but because there was no witness or CCTV of the alleged incidents, the educator is still working there and has not been charged.

Angela* told Guardian Australia that her daughter, Emily*, had disclosed the alleged sexual offences in mid-December, when she was nearly three. She said that on multiple occasions Emily had named the educator and said the offences had taken place while her nappy was being changed.

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Alleged childcare paedophile Joshua Dale Brown likely to face more charges, court told

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Magistrate Donna Bakos granted an application by police for extra time to compile additional evidence against Brown

Alleged childcare paedophile Joshua Dale Brown is likely to face extra charges, with a court granting police more time to investigate him.

Magistrate Donna Bakos on Tuesday approved a request by police for an extension in the matter of Brown and Michael Simon Wilson.

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News live: Wong says Trump ‘keen’ for meeting with Albanese; Creative Australia apologises to Venice Biennale artists

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Follow the latest updates live

Power continues to be restored in NSW

About 5,800 customers remained without power at 7am Thursday, according to network operators Ausgrid, Endeavour Energy and Essential Energy.

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Brad Battin says Liberals ousted Greens in Prahran by ‘listening to locals’ – as it happened

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This blog is now closed.

Coalition backs healthcare package

Gallagher welcomed the opposition backing Labor’s package for women’s health this morning. She said on ABC Insiders:

We know Peter Dutton wanders around saying he’s going to cut a whole range of things. He’s clear he sees a lot of our investments in Medicare as wasteful spending. But these are really good investments into women’s health. And it will make a difference for millions of people across the country including women who are going through men who really have felt left behind by the health system and hopefully these new measures will address all of those issues.

It’s come down quite obviously for women across the country, the use of contraception, going through different stages of your life, including menopause, that these are areas that either haven’t been addressed for decades, or haven’t been met appropriately through the Medicare system. So, you know, we have landed the hospital deal, keep investing in the public health system, we have got a lot of initiatives about strengthening Medicare and this builds on that.

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Australia’s largest childcare provider faces activist pressure to give staff paid parental leave

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Shareholder lobby group says parents trust G8 Education to look after children but carers ‘are not supported to look after their own’

Australian employers commonly offer paid parental leave – in addition to the government scheme – to attract and retain workers in a competitive jobs market.

But the largest listed childcare provider in Australia, G8 Education, has no such policy, drawing the attention of activist shareholders who want to pressure it to change.

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Labor urged to commit to universal childcare after report finds many children miss out on critical learning

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Productivity Commission report also says controversial activity test should be scrapped through overhaul of subsidies

Early education advocates have urged the Labor government to commit to universal childcare in the lead-up to the election, after a major report warned too many children were missing out on critical learning due to high costs and access issues.

The Productivity Commission has recommended that the federal government increase funding and simplify subsidies for early childhood education and care. It also said the controversial “activity test” should be scrapped, and called on state governments to provide out-of-hours care for older children in public schools.

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Early childhood education workers to receive 15% pay rise – if centres limit fee increases

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Labor hopes forcing childcare centres to limit fee hikes to secure funding for wage rises will save parents from further price shocks

Early childhood education workers will receive a 15% pay increase funded by the government – but only if centres agree to limit fee increases.

The wage boost, first reported by Guardian Australia in April, fulfils a commitment from the Albanese government to better address the wage inequity for workers in the crucial sector.

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The childcare desert sucking the life out of Australia’s regional towns

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One in three Australians live in an area where there is just one childcare spot for every three or more children, study finds

For psychologist and mother-of-two Tegan Podubinski, a lack of childcare access will leave her community 20 weeks poorer in mental health services this year.

“We have a very limited mental health workforce,” Podubinski told AAP.

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Childcare workers to get wage boost in budget as Australia battles staff shortages

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Exclusive: Move is intended to prevent workers from leaving for other sectors, including aged care, where wages were recently increased

The Albanese government is in the final stages of signing off on a boost to childcare workers wages as a centrepiece of next month’s budget.

Guardian Australia understands the budget razor gang, the expenditure review committee, has considered a number of proposals on the sector-wide wage increase, which would see the government cover a significant pay rise for early childcare educators.

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Childcare fees may need to be capped to curb erosion of subsidies, ACCC says

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Watchdog’s latest report says childcare in Australia is ‘relatively less affordable for households than in most other OECD countries’

Caps on childcare fees may be required to prevent providers hiking prices in response to more generous government subsidies, the competition watchdog has warned.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s second report into childcare, released on Sunday, warns that childcare in Australia is “relatively less affordable for households than in most other OECD countries”. The ACCC said there would be “substantial benefit” in the government considering “direct price controls”.

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Queensland childcare worker allegedly abused seven girls in a month, court documents reveal

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Charge sheets show the man allegedly assaulted children over 15 years at centres all across Brisbane

The Queensland childcare worker accused of being one of Australia’s worst paedophiles is alleged to have sexually abused seven different girls in a single month, court documents show.

Charge sheets released on Tuesday reveal new details about allegations against the man, who is accused of abusing 91 children in Australia and overseas over a 15-year period.

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In Australia, children, young adults, parents and teachers can contact the Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800; adult survivors can seek help at Blue Knot Foundation on 1300 657 380. In the UK, the NSPCC offers support to children on 0800 1111, and adults concerned about a child on 0808 800 5000. The National Association for People Abused in Childhood (Napac) offers support for adult survivors on 0808 801 0331. In the US, call or text the Childhelp abuse hotline on 800-422-4453. Other sources of help can be found at Child Helplines International

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Childcare fees in Australia outpace inflation with rises of up to 32%, report finds

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ACCC says number of centres charging above hourly rate cap has doubled as government’s cheaper childcare package comes into force

Childcare fees have outpaced inflation in the past five years, with rises of between 20% and 32% from 2018 to 2022 according to a report from the competition regulator.

Households are now paying 4% more for centre-based and outside-school-hours care, 6% more for family daycare and 15% more for in-home care services, once adjusted for inflation.

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$123.64 per child a day for centre-based daycare, with $48.60 out-of-pocket

$90.23 a child a day for family daycare ($28.92 out-of-pocket)

$30 per child a session for outside-school-hours care ($13.54 out-of-pocket)

$301.42 per family a day for in-home care ($60.69 out-of-pocket).

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‘It’s crippling families’: parents say childcare centres pushing up rates as Labor’s subsidy kicks in

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Experts warn early learning centres may seek to capitalise on government’s scheme, which comes into effect from 1 July

Two years ago, it cost Jessica* $176 a day to send her daughter to childcare in Melbourne. From July, it’ll be $204.40 – a $26.40 jump.

Jessica is now reconsidering a second child. She’s accepted for the first five years of her daughter’s life, her and her partner will “just have to be broke”, dishing out more than $1,000 per week on fees.

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Childcare workers’ union to seek 25% pay rise after Labor budget snub

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Sector already in crisis will lose workers to better paid aged care unless there is ‘significant uplift’ in wages, UWU says

The union representing early childhood educators has condemned the Albanese government’s failure to boost their pay in the federal budget, signalling it will bring a multi-employer bargaining claim within weeks seeking a 25% pay rise.

Helen Gibbons, the director of early childhood education at the United Workers Union, said it was “very likely” it would make an application on behalf of thousands of educators shortly after new industrial laws take effect on 6 June.

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