Nine Australian childcare centres could be stripped of taxpayer funding for failing to meet the bare minimum safety and quality standards.
The unnamed childcare centres have been given until the end of the month to lift their game.
The services were among more than 60 placed on notice last year.
It’s part of a federal government crackdown on dodgy operators, following allegations of child abuse and other failures that have rocked the sector.
Health authorities are investigating a cluster of fungal infections at a liver and kidney transplant ward at Sydney’s Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, after two people died and four others fell ill.
The infections are linked to a common mould fungus which can be found in plants, dirt, dust, and also at construction sites.
It’s harmless to most people but can be dangerous to those who are immunocompromised.
Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has testified she has no information regarding the criminal activities of convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.
She’s called for President Donald Trump to face the same scrutiny as her and her husband Bill, given he also appears in the Epstein files.
She did acknowledge she’d interacted with Epstein’s associate Ghislaine Maxwell at conferences hosted by the Clinton Foundation.
It’s the first of two days of congressional hearings, which will also see former President Bill Clinton answer questions about his association with Epstein.
South Australia’s state emergency service is urging people to prepare for heavy rain and flash flooding over the next few days.
The pastoral districts have already copped a deluge this week.
The weather bureau says the heaviest rain is due in Adelaide on Sunday evening, where totals could reach 100 millimetres.
And the federal opposition’s criticised the updated cost of the government’s new national emergency warning system.
The technology was initially expected to cost about $10 million, but the bill’s now due to come in at around $132 million.
AusAlert aims to send faster alerts to mobile devices.
But one independent regional MP wants to see disaster roaming put in place.
That would mean allow mobile users to switch to a competitor’s network in the event of an emergency.