As per the Best Practice Guidelines by Allergy and Anaphylaxis In Australia, in regards to anaphylaxis prevention, it recommends that early childhood services to not ban foods or claim to be free from any allergen such as "nut free".
An ‘allergy aware’ approach which focuses on implementing a range of appropriate risk minimisation strategies is recommended.
In cases where the children are of a young age (e.g. infants, toddlers) or have cognitive impairments limiting their ability to manage their own food allergies, it may be appropriate to implement allergen-restricted zones to reduce the risk that they will accidentally eat a food allergen.
For example, this may be appropriate if there are children eating messy egg meals, grated cheese or drinking milk,
so that they are not sitting next to children with egg or milk (dairy) allergy.
Children with food allergy must not be isolated from others.
Some CEC services do not include peanuts and tree nuts in their menus as these are not essential foods and can easily be eaten at home.
Foods such as wheat, milk (dairy), egg and soy are staple foods providing important nutrition and therefore cannot be removed in CEC services, hence the use of allergen-restricted areas if required.
For more information, please read the following: Best Practice Guidelines

On 10 December 2025, the Fair Work Commission issued a major determination affecting the Children’s Services Award 2010 (MA000120). These changes form part of the
Over the next five years, educators across the sector will see steady, structured wage increases designed to lift pay to the new benchmark rates for
The Fair Work Commission has introduced important changes to how cooks are classified and paid under the Children’s Services Award 2010. These changes recognise that
At the centre of this case is an incident captured on CCTV at an early learning service in Bathurst, where 18‑year‑old educator Hayley Kelleher grabbed