Good afternoon Wentyl,

Shocking new data shows childcare safety fails, including injury, trauma and illness, have drastically risen as staff qualifications have dived.

Two children died in Australian childcare services in the past financial year, and more than 22,000 fell sick or suffered trauma, shock new federal figures reveal.

Since mid-2017, 12 children have died in childcare settings, including three in New South Wales, three in Victoria, three in Queensland, one in South Australia, one in the Northern Territory and one in Western Australia.

The national Report on Government Services by the Productivity Commission shows there were 3300 calls to emergency services and 3128 children were locked in or out, taken away or unaccounted for in the past year – both more than double the number compared to 2017/18.

The failures follow a horrific year for the sector, including allegations of sexual abuse which sparked major safety reforms nationally to protect children in care.

See what’s happening in your state.