Child safety
Surge workforce could take over failing childcare centres
The Victorian government committed to going it alone to trial CCTV if necessary. But education ministers around the country are expected to support a national trial at a meeting on Friday.
- Rachel Eddie
Latest
Unproven abuse allegations against childcare workers should be shared, says report
A rapid review into Victoria’s childcare sector has also recommended that every centre be randomly inspected once a year and the state should establish an independent regulator.
- Rachel Eddie, Chip Le Grand and Carla Jaeger
- Opinion
- Justice
NSW bail fail: Locking up more children costs millions and doesn’t cut crime
NSW should be leading the country in youth justice innovation – not following states like Queensland down a failed path of locking up vulnerable youths.
- Arthur Moses and Mindy Sotiri
- Opinion
- Apps
Helicopter parent? Yep. Hypocrite? For sure. Why more and more of us are tracking our kids
Is it a valid way to ensure our children’s safety? Or is it an invasion of privacy which is contributing to the anxiety epidemic among kids? Whatever it is, it’s all-pervasive.
- Jacqueline Maley
Queensland man charged for allegedly attempting to meet up with ‘child’
A 35-year-old man from Queensland has been charged after he allegedly attempted to meet up with what he believed was a child under 16 for sexual acts.
- Emily Bennett
- Investigation
- Childcare
‘That’s all they care about, is money’: Childcare chain sets debt collectors on assaulted kid’s mother
Corporate childcare chain Edge Early Learning is facing further scrutiny, while a NSW inquiry has unearthed a case of a baby being dropped and parents not notified.
- Dan Nolan
- Updated
- Childcare
Rowland backtracks on year-long wait for reform after putting 30 centres on notice
The centres have been hit with notices from the federal government alleging they have failed to meet national standards for seven years or more.
- Brittany Busch and Jessica McSweeney
- Investigation
- Childcare
Childcare chain failed to formally notify parents after kids harmed
Two serious assaults were witnessed by a fellow educator, but parents of both children were not notified by the centre, only finding out a month later when detectives called.
- Dan Nolan
Husband of Esperance woman who abused kids said he would break wife out of prison
The husband of Sarah-Jayne Kelly, 30, who pleaded guilty to engaging in reckless conduct after she put a nasal gastric feeding tube into the noses of two of her children after falsely claiming they had cancer, made a series of bizarre claims in a prison call to his wife.
- Rebecca Peppiatt
- Investigation
- Melbourne childcare crisis
Staff accuse childcare chains of ‘culture of cover-ups’
A trove of internal documents uncovered by this masthead reveal childcare giant Affinity instructs its staff to consider reputation damage before notifying police about child safety allegations.
- Sherryn Groch and Carla Jaeger