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Early learning

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The childcare centre in Geebung.

Boy, 3, told family of ‘bad man’ at Brisbane childcare centre, trial hears

The identity of a Brisbane childcare worker accused of sexually abusing children can be revealed.

  • Cloe Read

Latest

Is childcare good for kids?

New concerns about how much childcare is too much

New research on childcare risks should not undermine the faith of parents in the system

  • The Herald's View
Experts say there needs to be more training for early learning educators and outside school hours carers about child-on-child abuse.

‘It is one of the worst nightmares’: Hundreds of children abused in childcare – by other kids

When Rose* arrived to pick up her six-year-old daughter from after-school care, she was confronted with gut-wrenching news.

  • Nicole Precel
Childcare subsidy fraudsters have drained millions from the system.

Phantom children, millions lost: How childcare fraudsters are draining the system

Millions of dollars have been lost to childcare fraudsters claiming phantom children or elaborating care to dupe the federal government and pocket childcare subsidy cash.

  • Nicole Precel
Childcare worker Joshua Brown has been charged with sex offences in Victoria.

Childcare giant says Joshua Brown ticked company’s hiring boxes

Executives from some of Australia’s largest for-profit childcare providers faced a grilling at a parliamentary inquiry probing the early childhood education and care sector.

  • Nicole Precel
School-age population projections show where new schools will be needed, yet the trend towards high rise schools like Arthur Phillip High has not continued as expected.

Sydney’s high schools need to find room for 22,000 more students in the next decade. Where?

In 2016, this masthead forecast the inner-city student population would explode. This is what really happened – and what needs to happen next.

  • Christopher Harris and Sally Rawsthorne
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Childcare crackdown.

The childcare crackdown is welcome, but this is no time for a victory lap

If 2025 was the year the sector faced a reckoning, then 2026 should be a year of action.

  • The Herald's View
The Fun2Learn early learning centre in Rosehill.

First Sydney centre shut under major childcare crackdown

A Sydney childcare centre that failed to meet national standards for more than 12 years has become the first to be closed under a major crackdown on the scandal-plagued sector.

  • Emily Kowal
Olympian Shane Gould has written a thesis on Australian swimming culture. She also has sound advice on how to choose a good swimming instructor for your child.

Kind firmness and active floating: What Shane Gould says you need from a swimming teacher

In Australia, learning to swim is not just a rite of passage, it’s a necessary skill. But what should you look for in a swimming teacher? One of the legends of the sport offers some valuable advice.

  • Jenna Price
Special envoy to combat antisemitism, Jillian Segal, after handing her report on antisemitism to the federal government in July.

Antisemitism fight to be taken into kinders, schools and universities

A new antisemitism education taskforce, led by eminent expert David Gonski and to include special envoy Jillian Segal, was announced by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Thursday.

  • Noel Towell, Jackson Graham and Bridie Smith