Due to the recent incident of a child being left on a bus in Queensland, the Federal Government has asked State Governments to tighten up and strengthen the safety requirements around transport.

It has been found that the NSW public-school infrastructure is of so low grade that students try to not use the toilets by not eating and drinking during the day. Students do not want to use their school’s “absolutely disgraceful” toilets due to this bad infrastructure.

As per the current PHO, all Educators are mandatorily required to be fully vaccinated. This will be repealed by the NSW Government on 13 May 2022.  However, there are many workers who either do not wish to take the vaccinations or are unable to, for medical reasons. The cumulative numbers of non-vaccinated Educators have significantly hit the sector which had been dealing with staff shortages even before the pandemic. The following details the impact of the vaccine mandate in the early childhood sector. 

The Telethon Kids Institute has created the Play Active Program which contains a physical activity policy to assist services in putting their policy into practice.

From January to March 2022, potential updates to the Early Years Learning Framework for Australia (EYLF) and My Time Our Place: Framework for School Age Care in Australia (MTOP) were piloted in 16 early childhood education and care services across Australia.  

The Climate Action Childhood Network believes in the importance of generating responses to climate change through creating and experimenting alongside young children. The goal is to move beyond learning “about” the climate crisis to seeing ourselves as part of it.

With staff shortages, a growing concern in the early childhood industry, the Carmicheal Centre from the Australia Institute have developed a detailed report with 10 recommendations to overcome the current shortages the industry face. Some recommendations include: Prioritising ECE as an essential public service, providing universal ECEC to all Australian preschool-aged children, conversion of casual, contract-based, and temporary staff to permanent and direct employment, Lifting minimum qualification standards for new ECEC workforce entrants, and TAFE should be the primary provider of foundational education and training for ECEC careers.

A three years old girl who had been found unconscious on a bus, on Wednesday 4th May, parked outside an early childhood service, in Gracemere, near Rockhampton, in Queensland is now breathing on her own.

The way early childhood education and care is provisioned by the government at local, state and national levels deeply impacts society. Issues range from sector-specific matters like childcare regulations, subsidies and fees to wider dynamics of social equity, workforce participation, children’s development, gender equality and response to global crises like COVID 19 pandemic. In the lead up to the Federal Election on 21 May 2022, here is a breakdown of the position of three major political parties – the Liberal/National Coalition, the Australian Labor Party and The Greens - on policy decisions crucial to early childhood care and education sector.

Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library in Australia is a free book gifting program. Each month children who are registered will receive free age-appropriate books till the age of five years old.