Australia news live: Hobart stadium plan passes first parliamentary vote; $37m boost for childcare checks

Labor joins governing Liberals as Tasmania’s lower house votes 25-9 for $1.3bn project. Follow today’s news liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe federal government will spend $37m over five years to improve working with children checks (WWWC) in early childhood and care, including monitoring changes to criminal history.The attorney-general, Michelle Rowland said the funding boost would go towards establishing the national continuous checking capability (NCCC), first announced earlier this year to provide “continuous, near real-time monitoring of changes to criminal history information for WWCC holders, significantly strengthening safeguards for children and young people”.That’s why we are progressing a coordinated and ambitious reform agenda to achieve meaningful consistency across jurisdictions for when a person is suitable to hold a WWCC and when they should be excluded. This addresses existing gaps and inconsistencies and will improve protections for children and young people. Continue reading...