ARMEDIA : Archive

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Graduating to make a difference – June 2006
A recent group of graduates from Macquarie University are taking their new training and skills back to the community—and are set to make a big difference. Liz Willis reports.
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Equity win: Undervalued NSW workers awarded pay increase – March 2006
NSW childcare workers finally received their pay increase on the eve of International Women’s Day.
Liz Willis reports.

Flying the Flag: Federal politics – March 2006
It’s 2006 and childcare is in the headlines again. Is it because it’s the beginning of the year and everyone is trying to lock in childcare arrangements? Or is it just because it’s a slow news time so childcare stories manage to cut through? Or will it signal a major government commitment towards healing this festering sore on the Australian social landscape?
Liz Willis reports.

Kid heaven – December 2005
Being a kid doesn't get much better than this. Not only do the children at Earlwood Children's Centre spend their days digging for worms or making mud pies - they're actually encouraged to get lost in the playground's overgrown jungle. Katie Sutherland visits a most magical place.

Taking the fast lane – December 2005
A range of new fast-track diploma courses have provoked concerns about the standard of childcare training. Katie Sutherland reports.

Stars in their eyes – December 2005
Children seem to have an innate love of music and theatre. But beyond pure entertainment value, performance can play a vital role in providing lifelong learning opportunities, as Katie Sutherland reports.

Preschools: Worth fighting for – September 2005
Community-based preschools in New South Wales are in dire straits. Lack of State Government funding means many of them are struggling to keep their doors open - let alone provide an affordable service for families in need. Katie Sutherland looks at what the future holds for preschools and the role they play in the early childhood sector.

First day jitters – September 2005
Most children rise to the occasion of starting school. It’s often the parents and educators who struggle with the transition, as Katie Sutherland reports.

Fair go or fair game – September 2005
Childcare workers will feel the full brunt of the Howard Government’s sweeping industrial relations changes. It is important that every worker knows how the changes will affect them and exactly what they can do to help prevent their implementation. Shane T. Hall writes that workers should also know how they can protect themselves from the changes’ impact, should the reforms become law.

Who’ll be left holding the baby? – July 2005
The severe shortage of childcare places in New South Wales is no media beat-up. Nor is the juxtaposition that sees a glut of places in some outer Sydney suburbs. Katie Sutherland investigates.

Reading between the lines – July 2005
Once again and perhaps not surprisingly, the Federal and State budgets have delivered very little in the childcare stakes. Eddy Jokovich comments on the wash-up.

Under lock and key – July 2005
Human rights advocates welcomed the recent release of three-year-old Naomi Leong. Thankfully, many more children could benefit from moves to soften the Government’s hardline mandatory detention laws. By Katie Sutherland.

Family payment about-face muddies the waters - April 2005
Federal promises of childcare supplements sound impressive on the surface. But, as Eddy Jokovich reveals, the realities are far from a bonanza for cash-strapped families.

Making sense of the world with art - December 2004
Children love getting down and dirty with crayons, paints or clay. And parents love adorning their fridges with the end result. What some parents don't realise is that visual art is actually one big scientific experiment - as Katie Sutherland explains.

Counting the votes: A new agenda? - December 2004
Reading aloud to children and childcare was a feature of the 2004 Election year but has the Coalition's Thumping victory put early childhood education onto the backburner? Eddy Jokovich looks at how the new dynamics of Federal Parliament may affect childcare and future policy decisions.

Raising the Stakes: The reality of corporate childcare - October 2004
The merger of ABC Learning Centres with the Peppercorn Management Group will see the combined operation controlling nearly 20 per cent of the national childcare market. Katie Sutherland sizes up the profits and the politics of corporatised childcare.

Freedom to play: embracing the journey - October 2004
Early childhood educators have long recognised the value of play. But in a litigious and consumer-driven society, children's freedom to explore is fast-becoming a precious commodity. Katie Sutherland asks whether the right to play is heading for redundancy.

Budget Blues: Same again for childcare - July 2004
The Australian Government has announced its election year budget, but it seems like it’s more of the same for early childhood. Eddy Jokovich reports on the 2004 budget.

What's on the box? - July 2004
Television has played the scapegoat for obesity, violence and most recently, attention deficit hyperactive disorder in children. But some argue the medium is profoundly educational. Katie Sutherland looks at whether there is a place for TV in childcare.

Creating pay equity for childcare workers - April 2004
It's been a long time coming, but childcare is finally making ripples as a hot federal election issue. Katie Sutherland reports on the pay equity case in NSW.

Can Mark Latham put childcare on the map? - April 2004
There's a federal election on this year - Eddy Jokovich looks at how childcare will always be the winner when placed under the political spotlight.

Shake rattle and roll: Music for kids - December 2003
Childcare centres are expected to provide a range of quality musical experiences for children and yet many staff are terrified of hitting a wrong note. Kate Hamilton reports.

Kids.com - September 2003
Eddy Jokovich investigates the changing fortunes of the corporate childcare services and how a 'dream come true' is not all it seems.

Greening childhood - September 2003
As the legacy of the last century's environmental destruction makes itself felt, fostering our children's sense of wonder in the natural world may be the key to rebuilding our ailing environment.

A Head Start: Planting the seeds of good health - June 2003
Early childhood nutrition is crucial to children's wellbeing and a healthy population. Kate Hamilton looks at the issues behind climbing obesity rates and the role of children's services in providing good food and a healthy education.

No future for the children of war - March 2003
Amid the rhetoric and political squabbling over a war with Iraq, little mention has been given to its affect on civilians. Kate Hamilton looks at the bleak lives of a generation of children living beneath the shadow of war.

Breaking the silence on abuse - March 2003
Child abuse was highlighted during 2002 with the allegation that a number of churches and institutions had covered up incidents of child sexual abuse. Eddy Jokovich looks at the history of child abuse in australia and welcomes the end of one of our country's great silences.

Enough of the lies, complicity and duplicity - February 2003
The Anti-War Rally at Hyde Park, Sydney, on February 16, has been described as the largest protest of its type in Australia's history. Over 250,000 people attended the Sydney rally to voice their anger against the US Government's push for a unilateral war against Iraq, and the Australian GovernmentÕs uncompromising support for US President George W. Bush's 'war on terror'.

The selling out of children's services - December 2002
Corporatised institutions have a stronger presence in most areas of everyday life in Australia. With the privatisation of many government services over the past decade, is there a place for corporate competitiveness and profit motivations in children's services? Eddy Jokovich looks at the key issues in the political debate about corporatising childcare and why community-based services need to be concerned.

Why are there no flowers in Australia? - March 2002
There are currently 582 children in immigration detention and most of these children are asylum seekers. Since 1994, they have been subject to mandatory and non-reviewable detention. Alexandra Pitsis looks at the issue of children in migration detention, the human cost of this policy and some of the attempts to redress this situation.

Domestic Terrorism: The big lie - March 2003
The "War" On Terrorism is a Total Fabrication The government's explanation of precisely who is the enemy has never been buttressed with facts that would stand up in a court of law.

A victory for cynicism - December 2001
The federal election, held on 10 November, resulted in an increased majority for the Liberal-National Party Coalition, winning 82 of the 150 seats, with the Labor Party holding 65 seats, and three seats held by independents.

Mabo: Life of an island man - June 2000
There has never been a time in Australian post-1788 history where indigenous land rights and the ownership of land has not been in contention, from the question of who actually owns it, or the ethics and legality of dispossession of land from the original owners, without recompense, or even permission via an Aboriginal treaty, or Makarrata.

It takes more than a few films to alter history - March 1999
In International Crisis and Conflict, a classic analysis of why communities wage war against each other, Richard Clutterbuck states succinctly that 'war is mass lunacy'.

Prophetic postscripts - September 1997
In 1989, when Alexander Dubcek took to the podium to declare the success of the velvet revolution in Czechoslovakia, Europe was looking towards the burgeoning star of unification and the application of democracy throughout the continent.

Lessons in diplomatic failure - September 1997
Historical accuracy, cultural acceptance, the rule of law and equality of political participation and representation, have been victims of the wars in the former Yugoslavia, where diplomatic ineptitude, clandestine negotiation, competitive nationalism, and political opportunism have contributed to EuropeÕs greatest human tragedy since 1945.

'Once upon a time there was a country...' - March 1996
On receipt of the 1995 Palm D'Or at the Cannes International Film Festival for his film Underground, director Emir Kusturica claimed that he was simply directing a creative response to the fifty or so years of life under communist regimes.

Is Bosnia the end of the road for the UN? (interview with Francis Boyle) - August 1995
There have been many voices calling for the restructure of the United Nations, particularly of the representation of the non-First World states within the General Assembly, and the operations of the Security Council consisting of the permanent five that largely utilise the UN for its own political and capital interests.

The role of the media in Bosnia (interview with Maggie O'Kane) - December 1995
Despite the media attention that was devoted to the conflicts in Croatia and Bosnia, the public in the West remained confused about the developments in the Balkans primarily because the media failed to grasp what the fundamental issue was in the former Yugoslavia

Dayton: The world signs away - December 1995
In light of the euphoric media reportage claiming that a overdue peace has arrived in Bosnia-Herzegovina, the accord sponsored by the United States needs to be placed into perspective, along with future ramifications for the region.