Good afternoon. Childcare workers will be put on a national register in a sweeping safety overhaul of the sector that includes a CCTV trial at hundreds of centres, mobile phone bans and mandatory staff training.
Federal, state and territory education ministers met in Sydney on Friday and agreed to major changes in the childcare and early education sectors.
The federal education minister, Jason Clare, said the CCTV trial would begin in October or November and run at 300 centres across the country. The trial will consider who holds the data and how the data is stored. The safety training regime for childcare employees will be rolled out early next year.
“Is it everything that we need to do? No, of course it’s not – but it’s the next thing that we must do,” Clare said. The commonwealth will put $189m towards the reforms, and work will begin immediately.
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In pictures
Australia’s Children’s Book Week is celebrating its 80th year in style, with children donning their best costumes for the traditional parade in schools across the country. What began in 1945 as a way to promote reading has turned into a highlight of the school year – and Guardian readers have shared some of this year’s excellent costumes.
What they said …
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“No, mate. I’m too old for that” – Peter Dutton
The former opposition leader ruled out a return to politics after losing his seat of Dickson at the May election. Dutton, who has rarely been seen in public since the devastating election loss, received a standing ovation at the LNP’s annual convention in Brisbane on Friday after being praised by his successor, Sussan Ley, and hailed a “great son of the party” by outgoing president Lawrence Springborg.
Podcast
Fresh from the government’s economic roundtable, the independent Wentworth MP, Allegra Spender, is optimistic about the future of tax reform in Australia. Talking to chief political correspondent Tom McIlroy, she argues Labor must speed up approvals for housing and clean energy, shift the tax mix to ease pressure on young people and boost investment, and responsibly embrace the “freight train” that is AI.
Before bed read
I long to carpe diem! How can I be more present?
It’s worth asking not just how to seize the day but why exactly we’re not, advice columnist Eleanor Gordon-Smith writes.
Daily word game
Today’s starter word is: TOMO. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.
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