News
Private equity-backed childcare investment, co-located with primary school and parish church, hits Melbourne market
1+ hour, 16+ min ago (355+ words) CBRE's Australian Healthcare and Social Infrastructure team of Marcello Caspani-Muto, Jimmy Tat and Paul Tran is marketing the property, which comprises a 120-place long day care centre completed in April 2026 and leased to Story House Early Learning on a 17-year…...
NT Children's Commissioner resigns amid concerns over governance and child protection reforms
19+ hour, 33+ min ago (506+ words) In her resignation statement, Ms Musk said she was increasingly concerned about the direction of governance and warned that diminishing independent oversight risked undermining public confidence in institutions responsible for protecting vulnerable children. According to evidence presented during the inquiry,…...
Compliance isn't safety: why the next phase of childcare reform is still asking the wrong question
2+ day, 10+ min ago (423+ words) This raises an important question for the next phase of reform: how do we ensure safeguarding approaches consider not only compliance but also broader system design? Safety has been designed as a compliance problem. It's a systems design problem. That's…...
Trust begins in the early years: what young Australians’ family plans mean for the ECEC sector
1+ week, 1+ day ago (612+ words) However, research highlighted by SBS News suggests another important factor is shaping how young Australians think about starting a family: their level of trust in society and the institutions designed to support them. The findings, drawn from research by the…...
UK regulator takes action against Bright Horizons and the parallels with Australia’s tightening compliance landscape are hard to ignore
1+ week, 2+ day ago (895+ words) According to Ofsted, England’s equivalent to ACECQA for education and care oversight, serious safeguarding concerns at a Bright Horizons nursery came to light in September 2025, prompting the regulator to undertake an extensive program of activity across the group’s 247 nurseries. Ofsted…...
How Z Staffing is building trust through transparency, compliance and child-safe recruitment
1+ week, 2+ day ago (749+ words) For Z Staffing, addressing them has become a central part of its business model. Approved providers remain legally responsible for everyone working within their service, including labour-hire and agency educators. As a result, many services are seeking greater visibility into…...
Childcare safety reforms enter new phase as Minister warns more services could lose funding
2+ week, 18+ hour ago (701+ words) Speaking on ABC Afternoon Briefing, the Minister confirmed that the Commonwealth had withdrawn Child Care Subsidy (CCS) funding from a Victorian family day care service after repeated failures to rectify serious safety concerns identified by regulators. The service has been…...
Childcare workers have been guaranteed a pay bump. What's the fine print?
3+ week, 6+ day ago (14+ words) The Sector...
What US childcare centre closures could mean for Australia's ECEC sector
4+ week, 1+ day ago (719+ words) While the American system differs significantly from Australia's early childhood education and care (ECEC) landscape, many of the challenges cited overseas are familiar to Australian providers: rising operating costs, workforce shortages, affordability pressures and changing enrolment patterns. The developments are…...
Early childhood sector rallies behind 2026 Vinnies CEO Sleepout
1+ mon, 1+ week ago (1108+ words) Preparations are underway for this year’s CEO Sleepout, with early childhood education and care professionals again using the event as a platform for advocacy, fundraising and community action. Max Bergh leading sector advocacy For Max Bergh, CEO of AMIGA Montessori,…...