The Algorithm Age

A string of sexual abuse allegations against a childcare worker in Melbourne have brought regulation of the early childhood sector back into the national conversation. Advocates for children's rights and prevention of abuse say oversight of the system is flawed, and that robust federal intervention is needed to ensure the safety of society's youngest while in care. The Victorian government has announced it will fast-track reforms into the childcare sector and has commissioned an urgent review to be turned around in about six weeks. Nationally, the system for regulating early childhood education and care falls to an independent statutory authority, but there is neither a ministry nor a regulator dedicated to it. Here's what we know about the regulatory framework as it currently stands. What are the rules for child safety in childcare centres? Victoria's early childhood sector is regulated under a combination of Commonwealth and s...

Ministers are racing to close gaps in Australia's child safety laws that have been left open for years, in the wake of another shocking case of alleged child abuse at a centre in Victoria. State and territory governments have responsibility for child protection and enforcement in childcare centres — but it is the Commonwealth that funds providers. That tension is again in question after a 26-year-old man was charged with dozens of child abuse offences at the Creative Garden Early Learning Centre in Point Cook. It has reopened questions about gaps in Australia's laws, including how unsafe centres continue to receive funding, around how safety standards are enforced and around the systems monitoring workers — which remain a patchwork of rules a decade on from recommendations for reform. Education Minister Jason Clare has reaffirmed that the government is urgently progressing laws it announced in March to strip funding from childcare providers who rep...

Michigan is set to announce that it has finally replaced all of the lead water pipes in the city of Flint. The news comes a decade after lead-contaminated water was first found in its water system, resulting in extensive legal battles and national outrage over one of the country’s most damaging water crises. There is no safe level of exposure to lead , which can result in reproductive issues, high blood pressure, hypertension, nerve disorders, muscle and joint pain, and memory and concentration problems in adults. In children, it can lead to hearing problems, slowed growth, headaches, learning and behavioral difficulties, lowered IQ, and damage to the brain and nervous system. Now, eight years after a court-ordered settlement required Flint officials to replace the pipes, nearly 11,000 have been replaced and more than 28,000 properties have been restored, according to the Natural Resources Defense Council. In a release, it cited a progress report the state submitted t...