TRANSCRIPT
A meeting of Federal, state and territory minister has agreed to a suite of safety reforms in the childcare and early education sectors.
This includes a trial of security cameras in hundreds of facilities across the country, federally funded through a $189 million package.
A national register of workers will also be developed, with a pilot planned for December, ahead of a full rollout from February.
Mobile phones will be banned from September, alongside mandatory training and extra spot checks at centres.
Federal Education Minister Jason Clare says these changes are just the beginning.
"We've made some changes to keep our kids safe, but not enough, and not fast enough. That's obvious. We've all got to step up here if we're serious about keeping our kids safe. That means the Australian Government stepping up. It means states and territories stepping up. It means regulators stepping up, and it means the people who run our centres stepping up as well, doing the work that is necessary to rebuild confidence for mums and dads in a system that they need to have confidence in"
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The National Children's Commissioner, Anne Hollonds, has commended the intergovernmental meeting on safety in childcare systems, saying it shows the importance of federal leadership.
She says the co-ordination between different states and territories is important - and she welcomed most of the reforms.
But Ms Hollonds says there are concerns over the proposed use of C-C-T-V.
"So first of all, it's the risk that we rely overly on CCTV to protect our children, because that's not enough. But beyond that, there is the risk of misuse of the filming of children; and that that footage could fall into the wrong hands. So there's a lot of questions there about how we ensure that the use of CCTV doesn't create new risks."
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United States President Donald Trump has visited a command centre in Washington D-C to thank the soldiers and federal agents carrying out his controversial crime crackdown.
After deploying the National Guard to the capital, and taking over the local police department, Mr Trump says he will combat crime with similar tactics elsewhere.
The approach has been met with protests, and criticised on the basis official figures show violent crime in the capital was at a 30-year low, after a spike in 2023.
Mr Trump has suggested those figures were manipulated, amid reports of a Justice Department probe, while also claiming that everyone is safe now in D-C.
“We're not playing games. We're going to make it safe and we're going to then go on to other places. But we're going to stay here for a while. We want to make this absolutely perfect. It's our capital, and this place was emblematic of it with the crime, the horrible crime. And, you know, I, I watch these phony reports. Oh, we were on the way back. They weren't on the way back. It was worse than ever just a short while ago. But now it's going to be, I think now right, now it's better than it has been in years.”
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A fresh turn in the tit-for-tat battle over congressional maps in the United States will see Californian voters decide in November whether or not to approve new district lines.
The redrawn map is designed to help Democrats win five more U-S House seats next year, and was prompted by a similar move from Texas Republicans.
California Governor Gavin Newsom has led the latest gerrymandering campaign, which adds to growing concern about the health of U-S democracy.
He says retaliation is justified and has been done as democratically as possible.
"Let me just briefly reinforce, because I'm eager to sign, a bill that no other governor in U.S history has ever signed. A bill, that will put the maps in front of the voters. We'll be the first state in US history to in the most Democratic way, submit to the people of our state the ability to determine their own maps. That simply has not been done."
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Police and politicians have farewelled New South Wales Police Commissioner Karen Webb, who was the first woman to lead the state's force.
The ceremony at the Goulburn Police Academy comes ahead of her official retirement on September 30th.
State Premier Chris Minns highlighted Commissioner Webb's role in driving retention.
"Her record of achievement in recruiting and retaining police officers to this finest of police forces anywhere in the world is truly important for New South Wales, a wonderful legacy that she takes with her and obviously big shoes to fill for the person that will take on the role in A permanent capacity for the New South Wales Police."
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In the A-F-L, Adelaide Crows coach Matthew Nicks admits the Izak Rankine incident shows the club still has work to do on its culture.
Rankine has been suspended for four games for a homophobic slur against an opponent last weekend.
One of the club and the league's star players, Rankine's season may now well be over- he will only be eligible to play in the Grand Final if the top-ranked Crows lose their first match of the finals series.
Nicks admits the club's culture has been tested by what has happened.
"We aim for perfection, but we understand it's pretty tough to get there. But there's a lot of things that we are doing right, and I hope that you guys feel that when you come into this place, you can see that there's things that we are doing right. But this just goes to show that we've still got work to do, that we have to be better."
Rankine will take some time away from the club during his suspension.
