The Sector yesterday reported on a major national study, into the cost of failing to provide early intervention services to children and young people, with authors calling for “smarter and wiser expenditure” to ensure children receive vital support services at a much earlier stage.

Strathbogie Shire Council joined the Hon. Jaclyn Symes MLC, Member for Northern Victoria and Minister for Regional Development, Agriculture and Resources to open the new and improved Avenel Preschool late last week.

Children and families who had previously attended not-for-profit early childhood education and care (ECEC) provider, Integricare Early Learning Centres Homebush West site, have received a lifeline in the form of a million dollar commitment from Lighthouse Early Learning Centre, who have said they will step in and make repairs on the service over the next 12 months, to ensure it is fit for purpose.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has confirmed that the proportion of families with children younger than five where both parents were working full time has increased 7 percentage points from 14 per cent in 2009 to 21 per cent in 2019.

KindyNow, the online marketing service best known for its early childhood education and care (ECEC) mobile booking app, has released its second issue of its new benchmarking report that focuses on providing insights into occupancy and booking trends from across the sector.