The Sector

The 4.5 tonne delivery contains enough Bioitalia pasta for 75,000 serves and follows a  successful first shipment which saw the HCC cook 50,000 pasta serves in the past six  months. HCC first looked to Italy after struggling to secure suitable high quality and healthy  wholemeal pasta in Australia. The meals have since won over families, who are placing  online orders for home each week.

There is no doubting it can be seen as a complex sector as it is made up of public, private and not-for-profit providers/owners. What is probably less understood is that 79 per cent of government-approved early learning service providers in Australia operate just a single service. That is they have one centre, maybe 20 staff, 80 enrolments often run by husband and wife teams with a love of what they do.

The “Fireside Chat” with an ECEC legend will feature Mr Cherry in a rare and intimate discussion that will take you inside his remarkable journey from Senator to ECEC Advocate and how his 13 years in the sector has shaped him as a professional but also the thousands of educators and children his influence has impacted as well.

The collaboration provided children with additional developmental support in a familiar learning environment, while giving students invaluable real-world experience applying their skills in practice. The partnership provided university students Tara Savage and Jasmine Oldenburger with valuable hands-on experience while delivering additional developmental support to children attending the centre.

Provider In The Field Compliance Contributor Aug 18, 2026 Save Hosted by Montessori Academy during Early Learning Matters Week, the 2026 Leadership and Safety Conference brought together senior representatives from government, regulation, law enforcement, child protection, parent advocacy and academia to examine how early learning organisations can embed child safety into leadership, professional judgement and everyday practice.

During her visit, Minister Washington met with Cherylanne Williams, General Manager of Early Childhood Education, Kathryn Stone, Director of KU Peninsula Preschool, and Jennifer Green, Education Quality Manager, to learn more about the preschool's longstanding connection with the local community and its commitment to delivering high-quality early childhood education.

In The Field Compliance Quality Outside School Hours Care Practice Elena Zdravkoski, Executive Director of Child Care Australia United Ltd Aug 18, 2026 Save I know this picture through my husband’s stories of growing up in Australia: school bags dropped near the front door, bikes appearing on footpaths and children gathering in the street, in backyards or on any patch of grass where they could create a game. Someone invented the rules. Someone disagreed with them.

Since the first Red Nose Day in 1988, the campaign has helped achieve significant progress: 12,992 babies saved since the first Red Nose Day $20 million invested in vital research since 1988 more than 16,100 instances of support provided to families in the past 12 months an 80 per cent reduction in sudden infant deaths, supported by research and safe sleep education. Behind each figure are children, families and communities affected by the work of Red Nose.

According to ACECQA’s latest snapshot the number of service focused compliance actions all increased in the first six months of 2026 compared to the same period last year as Regulatory Authorities across Australia remain focused on enforcing their oversight responsibilities.

Contributor Aug 17, 2026 Save Australia is expected to need 24% more bachelor-qualified STEM workers by 20351. But with only 37%2 of Year 10 students meeting the national ICT literacy proficient standard in 2025, thereremains a gap2 between workforce demand and the practical digital skills many young people are developing today. Australia is currently facing a critical inflection point in sustaining its STEM capability.