New Provision in National Construction Code (NCC) Regarding Egress From Early Childhood Centres

In order to address the issue of the development of child care centres in multi-storey buildings, the Australian Building Codes Board is to amend the NCC from 1 July 2020 (NCC 2019 Amendment 1). A preview of the amendment can be viewed on their website.

New Publication

I am pleased to announce my new self-published book that might be of interest. It is about about policy development and is called Concise Guide to Good Policy.

The book aims to be a concise, step by step, introductory guide to policy development (it's only about 80 pages). It deals with the essential, practical issues relating to good policy development. It is written in an informal style and details my thoughts on the process and principles that should apply to good policy development - from operational to public policy. It is aimed at those tasked with the job of developing policy – particularly those new to the world of policy development. It's based on my almost 30 years experience in policy development.

Currently it is only available from Lulu.com with an introductory 10% discount on top of the current Lulu discount. It will also be available from Amazon, Book Depository and other online booksellers in 6-8 weeks. To take advantage of this introductory offer, you can order by clicking here. You can see all of my published books on Lulu.com.

Charges Laid Relating to Childcare Benefit Fraud

The Brisbane Times carried a report on this matter that is to be heard by the Parramatta Local Court in April.

More on Childcare and COVID-19

The Sector website has published a list of useful resources.

Childcare and COVID-19

The Commonwealth Minister of Education has recently released this media release.

On Thursday, Child Australia is holding a free 90 minute national webinar for Education and Care Professionals, Early to Middle Childhood Sector (ages 0 to 12 years) about planning ahead amid the coronavirus pandemic. Register here.

Recent WASAT Decisions

Recently, the West Australian State Administrative Tribunal (WASAT) made a number of consent orders in relation to matters brought before the tribunal by the WA Regulator (Department of Communities) for contraventions of the National Law:

In Chief Executive Officer of the Department of Communities and Helping Hands Network Pty Ltd, the approved provider breached section 165, National Law. The breach involved leaving a 51/2 year old child on a bus, used for transporting children to the service, for a period of 10-15 minutes. The child was found by a parent locked in the bus. The approved provider was fined $15,000 plus $2,000 costs.

In Chief Executive Officer of the Department of Communities and Kids Active Pty Ltd, the approved provider contravened sections 165 and 174(2)(a), National Law. This case involved a child aged 41/2 found by a member of the public standing next to a pond located outside the front of the service (Kid's Active Canning Vale). The approved provider also failed to notify the Department of this serious incident within 24 hours as required by the National Law. The approved provider was fined $12,500 and had to pay $2,000 towards the Department's legal costs.

 

In Chief Executive Officer of the Department of Communities and Goodstart Early Learning Ltd, the approved provider breached section 165, National Law. In this case the child left the service (Goodstart Early Learning East Bunbury) unnoticed and unsupervised and walked to her house 150m away where her mother was on the front lawn. The parent took the child back to the service. Educators had not noticed the child's absence until then (a period of about 20 minutes). The approved provider was fined $10,000 and had to pay $2,000 towards the Department's legal costs.

In Western Australia such matters as this are generally heard as disciplinary matters under the National Law (WA), see the article by David Oliver in The Sector that explains the process in detail.

Some of these cases were also reported on by The West Australian.