Early Childhood

What happens when we cut corners: Suffer the little children

By Olivia Karaolis

Jack Swindells is why regulations for early childhood care matter. The early childhood sector is regulated by standards and laws for a reason. One of those reasons is to ensure the quality of care for children: a quality of care that provides children with the opportunity to develop in an environment that is safe. These

How this oppressive test is killing the magic of childhood

By Pauline Roberts

NAPLAN is taking the fun out of early childhood learning. Early childhood learning encompasses education for children from

The government must fix the childcare desert now

Marg Rogers, Navjot Bhullar and Laura K Doan ask: How far will the Budget’s funds stretch to fix

The emotional labour of academic labour – it’s all related

By Kathleen Smithers

Here is another of our intermittent blogs during the #AARE2022 conference. If you want to cover a session at

Provoking the children: why that matters for remarkable early learning

By Rachael Hedger

Our research shows why play matters in supporting young children’s learning and development. We have so many resources

We build submarines and the defence force. Now we must support the families who work in them

By Marg Rogers and Amy Johnson

The Federal Government has plans to expand Australian Defence Forces (ADF) to a 40-year high. They hope to increase the forces by 30% (18,500 extra personnel by 2040), the biggest increase since the Vietnam War. This will inevitably lead to an increase in the number of children and parents impacted by military service.  It won’t

ECEC: Why joy at work is wonderful (but never enough)

By Olivia Karaolis and Cathy Little

Image courtesy of Joanna Crothers Educators voted on Wednesday to take strike action on September 7 – Early

We refuse to value care – why sexism is at the core of our early childhood crisis

By Lucinda McKnight and Natalie Robertson

Introduction: The old, old problem The introduction of an extra year of education for three and four-year olds

It’s one thing to extend preschool. But where is the supply of the remarkable teachers we need?

By Rachael Hedger

Rachael Hedger on early childhood reform: implications for our children, the sector, and the economy. This week, Victoria and New South Wales jointly announced a universal preschool year for all 4-year-old children, offering 30-hours of fully subsided ‘pre-prep’ or ‘pre-kindergarten’. Victoria plans to implement this change from 2025 whilst NSW will begin from 2030. This

Time, money, exhaustion: why early childhood educators will join the Great Resignation

By Marg Rogers

As the Omicron virus leaves thousands of families without childcare, because hundreds of early childhood services have been forced to close, early childhood educators are in demand. Previously there was around 30% turnover in the sector, but a 2021 survey of 4000 educators revealed 73% planned to leave in the next three years. A multinational