Goodstart Early Learning, the largest provider of early childhood education and care (ECEC) in Australia will no longer charge families on public holidays, ending a long-standing sector practice for large providers in what has been termed “a win for the nation’s parents.”

Families in the Victorian town of Ouyen will soon have access to “bigger and better” early years facilities thanks to funding from the Victorian Government.

A net total of 75 new long day care service approvals were issued in the second quarter of 2019 according to the latest release of the Australian Children’s Education and Care Authority’s (ACECQA) snapshot, representing an increase of 3.9 per cent year on year, and the first quarterly increase since the September quarter of 2018.

A childcare development, co-owned and operated by a school principal and located along a major truck route, has been approved by Maribyrnong Council, in a bid to address “a gaping hole in childcare services” in Maribyrnong city, The Herald Sun has reported.

A review of the ACECQA National Registers as at the end of the first half of 2019 suggests that the number of new long day care centres receiving a license to operate continues to track at levels comparable to last year, albeit slightly lower.