A further 15 crimes have been added to the list of disqualifying offences when applying for a Queensland working with children clearance, known as a Blue Card, as part of an overhaul of the system initiated after a comprehensive review undertaken by the Queensland Family and Child Commission (QFCC) in July 2017.

The system has failed early childhood educators – “the parent’s know it, the community knows it, everybody knows it” – Australian Labor Party (ALP) Leader Bill Shorten has said during a doorstop interview while explaining the ALP’s strategy to improve wages while reducing the cost of early childhood education and care (ECEC) services for families.

Australia has been named in a list of the top five countries with the most expensive childcare, at the same time that local newspapers have highlighted that Australian working primary carers typically loses 90 per cent of their wage for every extra day they use early childhood education and care (ECEC) services.

Consultation with principals and school communities will begin next month to deliver on the New South Wales’ Government’s pre-election pledge to ensure all children at public primary schools have access to outside school hours care (OSHC) by 2021.

Defamation in the workplace is more often than not associated with disgruntled employees making adverse or negative remarks about their employer (or former employer). This has become a major cause for concern for employers particularly with the advent of social media and online reviews.