Almost one million Australian families are set to receive free childcare for the duration of the COVID 19 pandemic, under a plan announced moments ago by Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Federal Education Minister Dan Tehan in a press conference.

The Office of the Children’s Guardian, the New South Wales authority charged with monitoring working with children clearances in the state, have been in touch with thousands of educators, and others who have roles requiring clearance, to extend the date of expiration on their clearance for an additional six months.

The NSW Parliament passed changes to long service leave earlier this week, which will create greater flexibility for employers and employees to access leave during the COVID-19 crisis.

Children who attend preschool and school in very remote communities will benefit from teachers who remain in their position for longer, Federal Minister for Education Dan Tehan said yesterday, when announcing new legislation to waive the HELP debt for teachers who worked in such locations.

Under the Notifiable Data Breaches (NDB) scheme, any organisation or agency covered by the Privacy Act 1988 – including early childhood education and care (ECEC) services – must notify affected individuals and the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) when a data breach is likely to result in serious harm to an individual whose personal information is involved.