The New South Wales Department of Education have made changes to the department’s Employee Performance and Conduct (EPAC) directorate in the hopes of making it “more efficient and transparent.”

The Australian early childhood education and care (ECEC) landscape is diverse, with families with a variety of cultural and faith based backgrounds accessing education and care. Likewise, the ECEC workforce is a diverse community, with educators from different backgrounds working alongside one another.

Nearly 80 per cent of working people have been injured, or become ill, or both, as a result of their work, according to a survey recently released by the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU).

As part of it’s Modern Award Review the Fair Work Commission has decided to vary the ‘payment of wages on termination’ clause in the Children’s Services Award 2010 to account for a lack of clarity around the period of time within which termination payments should be paid to departing employees.

Like Australia, men are underrepresented in New Zealand’s early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector. New Zealand publication, Stuff, recently spoke with men working in ECEC as early childhood teachers (ECTs) about their experiences, and with commentators from the sector, about the reasons behind this, and how it might be addressed.