Parental time with children contributes to children's development and is positively associated with children's wellbeing. However, the amount of parent-child shared time does not necessarily capture its "quality". Parents, in their time with children, might be teaching them, encouraging and nurturing them and physically caring for them. At other times, parent and child may be...

The Queensland Government has launched a discussion paper on the future of education as part of its plan to provide all Queensland children with a flying start in life. Queenslanders are encouraged to have their say on the proposals in the paper.

This report draws on data from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children, which tracked almost 10,000 children and their families over two years from 2004, to find out detailed information about their lives and experiences. It finds that: • children who attended an early childhood program had better language skills than those who did not...

Heads of government (now the Council of Australian Governments or COAG) established the Review of Government Service Provision (the Review) to provide information on the effectiveness and efficiency of government services in Australia. A Steering Committee, comprising senior representatives from the central agencies of all governments, manages the Review with the assistance of a Secretariat...

Together with state and territory governments and the non-government sector, the federal government is developing National Standards for Out of Home Care. This paper has been developed to generate discussion and ideas to be considered in developing National Standards. The development of these National Standards is an important action under the National Framework for Protecting...