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Child Care

Families and staff speak out about safety concerns at Guardian childcare centres in Canberra

Parents and former educators at Guardian Childcare and Education in Canberra tell the ABC about instances where children were forgotten outside, served mouldy bread and spoiled food, narrowly escaped anaphylactic reactions, and returned home in soiled nappies.
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Watercolour graphic of a building that looks like a school with a playground out the front.

Parenting teenagers can be challenging. But there's at least one piece of advice most experts agree on

How do we ensure that our teenagers reach out to us when things take a turn for the worse? Bec Sparrow shares the top three tips she has learned from the experts in Parental As Anything Teens this season.
A woman with long blond hair and dark rim glasses smiling

Death of 11-week-old in squalor followed 'significant missed opportunity' for intervention

A baby who died in squalid conditions on a fold-out couch at a home in regional SA would have been removed from the property days earlier if child protection authorities had responded to an early warning, a coronial inquest concludes.
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Rubbish on the floor of a home.

Childcare centre investment the 'best $100k' this country council has ever spent

After five years of lobbying and a significant investment, the Shire of Augusta-Margaret River hopes a local childcare centre will be open by the end of the year.
Adults and children raise their arms and smile while standing in front of a body of water.

Summer May knew a lack of childcare was harming her career. So she teamed up with another parent to find the proof

Determined parents battling childcare waiting list stress have gathered crucial data to advocate for solutions ahead of a Productivity Commission report into the sector.
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Close up of woman smiling with back of baby's head in foreground.

Families facing childcare shortages put their own solutions on the table

Determined parents battling childcare waiting list stress have gathered crucial data to advocate for solutions ahead of a Productivity Commission report into the sector.
ABC News Current
Duration: 1 minute 45 seconds

Over 160,000 parents in child support system failed to lodge tax returns

Experts warn failing to lodge a tax return is a common tactic used by parents to avoid their full child support obligations and should be recognised as a form of economic abuse.
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Child Support Payments, Tax Return Tactic: Cardboard cutouts of generic male and female figures joined at hands.
Duration: 5 minutes 43 seconds

Childcare provider excludes boy from attending after epilepsy diagnosis

The childcare provider has been accused of discrimination, but advocates say the situation is not unique.
Childcare Exclusion, Discrimination: A woman embraces a small boy.
Duration: 1 minute 48 seconds

'It's constant torture': Heartbreak as 4yo excluded from kindergarten after epilepsy diagnosis

The parents of a four-year-old boy are furious he was removed from his long-time early learning centre after being diagnosed with epilepsy. Advocates say it's not an isolated incident.
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A young mother hugging her young son

Mackenzie Arnold looks to inspire a new generation of readers and footballers

Star goalkeeper Mackenzie Arnold is releasing a series of children's books, drawing on her own life and career as she hopes to inspire the next generation.
ABC News Current
Duration: 5 minutes 18 seconds

Outback Queensland parents desperate for childcare mind each other's kids to keep jobs

With outback towns stuck in a cycle of workforce shortages and a dire need for childcare, parents are taking care of each other's children so they can keep their jobs.
A young girl is helped over a fence by her mother

Commissioner says Indigenous kids 'unnecessarily' removed from families

April Lawrie tabled a report in SA parliament on Wednesday which found First Nations children's rights are being 'trampled on'.
A woman with green jacket and glasses looks off camera.
Duration: 1 minute 43 seconds

Montessori childcare chain in SA goes into voluntary administration

Childcare chain Precious Cargo — which has seven operating centres across Adelaide —  is searching for a new buyer after going into voluntary administration this week.
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Side of a green building with a sign that reads Precious Cargo Montessori Early Learning alongside three little cars

Pre-schools to receive major funding injection in South Australia

The funding is to implement recommendations from former prime minister Julia Gillard's Royal Commission.
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Preschool Funding Boos, South Australia: Children sit on a mat facing an adult.
Duration: 1 minute 55 seconds

Remote mining town brings in international workers to solve childcare workforce shortages

A small town in the heart of Queensland's coal country is taking an innovative approach to address one of the biggest problems facing Australian families: childcare shortages. 
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A mother and daughter sitting on a couch holding mugs, the mother's arm is around the daughter's shoulders

Budget confirms $1.1 billion spend to add super to paid parental leave

The federal budget measure — slated to begin in July next year — is a $1.1 billion promise over four years to help improve the retirement outcomes for working mothers.  
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A newborn baby peeps over a woman's shoulder.

Victoria's free pre-school program delayed

Teacher shortages and the government pushing back the construction of child care centres is being blamed for the delay.
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ABC News Current
Duration: 2 minutes 13 seconds

The Victorian government pitched free kinder as a no-brainer for families. The reality is more complex

Experts say Victoria's Free Kinder program is "groundbreaking", but it's not working for all centres and a planned expansion has been delayed.
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a photo of an educator holding a small boy on handlebars

For 18 months, Nat couldn't find a childcare centre that would take her triplets

Nat Dunworth was forced to send her triplets to two different childcare centres each week for 18 months.
Identical triplet boys playing on a swing set with their mother in the background

High staff turnover and vacancies adding to NSW child protection crisis

Staff shortages mean caseworkers are only able to visit a fraction of children reported to be at risk.
Updated
A photo of a toy truck on a carpet
Duration: 2 minutes 30 seconds

Queensland's Free Kindy program dubbed 'ill thought-out' after widespread confusion and disappointment

While a colourful television campaign promised families the Queensland government was "making kindy free" this year, the rollout of the program has resulted in widespread confusion and disappointed parents.
The government's ad promoting free kindy

'Quit my job or move to Melbourne': Families face confronting choices as childcare hub shuts

Erin Paech's "gut just dropped" when she was told her north-west Victorian town of Hopetoun's only childcare centre would be closing after being unable to fill two vacant qualified educator roles.
A woman with brown hair and a blue shirt kneels with her two young daughters, who are both wearing pink

Children lagging behind in the classroom in WA's South West amid applications for specialist funding

Data from the latest Australian Early Development Census shows kids in the town of Bunbury are behind in developing vital behavioural skills, but a childcare coordinator hopes a grant application to secure a specialist will help overcome that.
A woman with blonde hair, a black t-shirt and orange skirt stands next to the carey park child and parent centre sign.

Outback businesswoman opens childcare centre for her staff's kids, with ripples felt throughout the community

Heather Pearce always had trouble attracting qualified professionals to her Broken Hill medical practice for long-term roles— until she made sure their kids had child care.
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A young white girl with blonde hair yawns while holding a book at daycare in Broken Hill.

Teachers unsure when they can return to work amid two-year wait for childcare

In this coastal region south of Adelaide, teachers are among parents who remain unsure when they can return to the workforce as the waiting time for a childcare place balloons to two years.
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A woman holds a very young baby.