Child Care news

• Three kids is a 'beautiful season' but mums face a 'penalty'

  16-10-2026 20:00 via abc.net.au
  
  Women going against the trend share why they chose to have bigger families and what the trade-offs are.
  
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• As fertility rates fall, mums of three share joy and sacrifice of big families

  16-10-2026 20:00 via abc.net.au
  
  Women going against the trend share why they chose to have bigger families and what the trade-offs are.
  
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• Regulator pauses major Mallee centre from taking on new foster children

  14-10-2026 23:30 via abc.net.au
  
  A major foster care provider on the Victoria-NSW border has been barred from taking on new referrals to its foster care program, one year after the NSW regulator first demanded it improve its operations. 
  
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• Children found by police after going missing from Canberra daycare

  14-10-2026 05:37 via abc.net.au
  
  The owners of Northside Community Service have apologised after two five-year-olds went missing from Majura Early Childhood Centre in Dickson.
  
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• Children found by police after escaping from Canberra daycare

  14-10-2026 05:37 via abc.net.au
  
  The owners of Northside Community Service have apologised after two five-year-olds went missing from Majura Early Childhood Centre in Dickson.
  
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• Eleven Edge Early Learning centres to close after failing to find buyers

  13-10-2026 07:59 via abc.net.au
  
  Administrators for Edge Early Learning say they have secured offers for 53 centres after the company collapsed in August, but eleven centres are set to close.
  
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• Council sued over alleged historical abuse at daycare services

  12-10-2026 21:15 via abc.net.au
  
  Seven people are suing a NSW council that they say failed to protect them from sexual abuse they suffered as children in the 1990s. 
  
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• Council ignored warnings amid alleged 1990s daycare abuse, lawsuit claims

  12-10-2026 21:15 via abc.net.au
  
  Seven people are suing a NSW council that they say failed to protect them from sexual abuse they suffered as children in the 1990s. 
  
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• Father's trust in childcare shattered by child's shocking injury

  09-10-2026 22:02 via abc.net.au
  
  A Tamworth childcare centre has been ordered to shut for six months following "ongoing child safety risks", testing parents who rely on the sector. 
  
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• Father's trust in child care shattered by son's shocking injury

  09-10-2026 22:02 via abc.net.au
  
  A Tamworth childcare centre has been ordered to shut for six months following "ongoing child safety risks", testing parents who rely on the sector. 
  
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• Family day care shrinks as parents opt for centre-based care

  08-10-2026 21:05 via abc.net.au
  
  Researchers are concerned family day care services might disappear in Australia as educators leave the sector feeling unsupported and parents increasingly choose centre-based child care.
  
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• Rural communities feel locked out of national childcare fund

  05-10-2026 21:57 via abc.net.au
  
  It was a fund designed to reduce the number of childcare deserts in Australia, but industry advocates say the Building Early Education Fund has left rural communities behind. 
  
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• National childcare fund 'nonsensical' according to advocates

  05-10-2026 21:57 via abc.net.au
  
  It was a fund designed to reduce the number of childcare deserts in Australia, but industry advocates say the Building Early Education Fund has left rural communities behind. 
  
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• Darwin childcare centre guilty of supervision breach before child's death

  01-10-2026 08:31 via abc.net.au
  
  A Humpty Doo childcare centre has pleaded guilty to inadequately supervising children and inadequately protecting children from harm following the death of toddler Ebony Thompson in 2023.
  
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• Childcare centre forced to close after recording 126 breaches

  30-09-2026 08:02 via abc.net.au
  
  Jenny's Kindergarten and Early Learning Centre at Bathurst has been shut down due to non-compliance and child safety risks. 
  
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• Anger as lead found at 10 Broken Hill childcare centres

  09-09-2026 22:25 via abc.net.au
  
  The NSW Environment Protection Agency faces criticism after finding high lead contamination at 10 of Broken Hill's 13 childcare facilities.
  
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• Edge Early Learning Centre closed after child hospitalised

  08-09-2026 05:40 via abc.net.au
  
  Edge Early Learning in Port Augusta has been ordered to close after an incident which resulted in the hospitalisation of a child attending the service.
  
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• Child hospitalised in 'serious' allergy incident that forces closure of Edge centre

  08-09-2026 05:40 via abc.net.au
  
  Edge Early Learning in Port Augusta has been ordered to close for two weeks after a child was hospitalised because they were given food "they shouldn't have been served".
   
  
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• Former childcare worker's husband avoids jail for sharing child exploitation material

  07-09-2026 11:29 via abc.net.au
  
  Ronald Houghton received a suspended jail term after he was caught bragging to undercover officers about his experience abusing children in an online chat.
  
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• Embattled childcare chain shuts another Canberra centre

  03-09-2026 08:49 via abc.net.au
  
  Edge Early Learning has announced it will permanently close its Charnwood centre, telling parents it would struggle to reopen after a three-month suspension imposed by the ACT's childcare regulator.
  
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• Victorian town left without childcare service for two years calls for help

  03-09-2026 04:51 via abc.net.au
  
  A Victorian council is calling on the state government to immediately act to solve an early years facility crisis that has left local families without child care for two years.
  
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• Rescue package to help vulnerable families care for children at home

  01-09-2026 20:44 via abc.net.au
  
  The in-home childcare sector says the relief package is "monumental" but warns longer term problems still need to be addressed.
  
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• 'Monumental': In-home childcare sector welcomes relief package

  01-09-2026 20:44 via abc.net.au
  
  The in-home childcare sector says the relief package is "monumental" but warns longer term problems still need to be addressed.
  
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• In-home childcare gets 'absolutely vital' rescue package

  01-09-2026 20:44 via abc.net.au
  
  The in-home childcare sector says the relief package is "monumental" but warns longer term problems still need to be addressed.
  
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• In-home child care gets 'absolutely vital' rescue package

  01-09-2026 20:44 via abc.net.au
  
  The in-home childcare sector says the relief package is "monumental" but warns longer-term problems still need to be addressed.
  
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• Preschoolers found at shopping centre after childcare escape

  27-08-2026 21:29 via abc.net.au
  
  The NSW Early Learning Commission issued the centre with a compliance notice after the children were found at a nearby shopping centre.
  
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• If you want help from the village, sometimes it means playing by their rules

  27-08-2026 20:30 via abc.net.au
  
  More than half of Australian parents say they rely on grandparents for some form of child care, and as author Jessie Stephens can attest, sometimes that requires relaxing your parenting boundaries and meeting in the middle. 
  
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• How millennials and their parents are avoiding the grandparent trap

  27-08-2026 20:30 via abc.net.au
  
  More than half of Australian parents say they rely on grandparents for some form of child care, and as author Jessie Stephens can attest, sometimes that requires relaxing your parenting boundaries and meeting in the middle.
  
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• Snap daycare closure causes 'panic' for Melbourne parents

  26-08-2026 04:05 via abc.net.au
  
  Liquidators for the centre in Melbourne's north-west apologised for "stress and inconvenience" caused by the closure.
   
  
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• Parents given 12 hours' notice of Melbourne daycare closure

  26-08-2026 04:05 via abc.net.au
  
  Liquidators for the centre in Melbourne's north-west apologised for "stress and inconvenience" caused by the closure.
   
  
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• Edge Early Learning enters voluntary administration

  26-08-2026 03:55 via abc.net.au
  
  Embattled childcare provider Edge Early Learning, which has centres in the ACT, Queensland and South Australia, has gone into voluntary administration. 
  
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• Breaking: Edge Early Learning enters voluntary administration

  26-08-2026 03:55 via abc.net.au
  
  Embattled childcare provider Edge Early Learning, which has centres in ACT, Queensland and South Australia, has gone into voluntary administration. 
  
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• Sydney childcare centre on brink of closure offered 12-months rent free

  22-08-2026 10:26 via abc.net.au
  
  More than 60 families rallied in Sydney's eastern suburbs to keep the doors of a local childcare centre open.
  
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• Victorian regulator shuts down 65 day care residences, suspends educators

  20-08-2026 05:04 via abc.net.au
  
  Ignite Minds is ordered to close scores of centres and four educators are suspended following an inspection blitz in Victoria.
  
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• Victorian regulator shuts down 65 day care centres, suspends educators

  20-08-2026 05:04 via abc.net.au
  
  Ignite Minds is ordered to close scores of centres and four educators are suspended following an inspection blitz in Victoria.
  
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• Roblox to face external audits to prove it's safe for Australian children

  19-08-2026 16:45 via abc.net.au
  
  Australia's eSafety Commissioner will be able to take the gaming platform to court if it finds Roblox is not honouring its commitments to keep Australian children safe. 
  
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• Tommy was excluded from his early learning centre, 'effective immediately'

  14-08-2026 22:59 via abc.net.au
  
  The NSW government is being asked to intervene to help a four-year-old boy who was excluded from his early learning centre on the south coast due to his disability-related needs.
  
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• Excluded from early learning, kids like Tommy 'falling through the gaps'

  14-08-2026 22:59 via abc.net.au
  
  The NSW government is being asked to intervene to help a four-year-old boy who was excluded from his early learning centre on the south coast due to his disability-related needs.
  
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• Child with disability excluded from early learning centre 'effective immediately'

  14-08-2026 22:59 via abc.net.au
  
  The NSW government is being asked to intervene to help a four-year-old boy who was excluded from his early learning centre on the south coast due to his disability-related needs.
  
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• Qld child safety minister axes key survey of children in care

  13-08-2026 04:10 via abc.net.au
  
  Queensland's child safety minister said she "had no hesitation" in axing a key survey, that she previously lauded as integral.
  
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• Grandparents filling child care gaps as cost-of-living pressures rise

  12-08-2026 21:09 via abc.net.au
  
  Experts say families are turning to grandparents for help with child care, as the formal care system remains "inaccessible to many". 
  
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• Number of children in residential care in Qld jumps to record new highs

  30-07-2026 02:59 via abc.net.au
  
  The Queensland government has handed down its response to the Child Safety Inquiry, as shocking new data shows a major increase in children in residential care.
  
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• The graph that doesn't match the narrative on productivity

  28-07-2026 20:41 via abc.net.au
  
  The "non-market sector" is not the same thing as "the public sector" or "the government", it's worth knowing the difference.
  
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• The debate about the 'non-market sector' is confused, ABS official says

  28-07-2026 20:41 via abc.net.au
  
  The "non-market sector" is not the same thing as "the public sector" or "the government", it's worth knowing the difference.
  
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• Lack of child care creates skills shortages as bush mums leave work

  27-07-2026 22:59 via abc.net.au
  
  Looking at her young daughters, Emily McPhee hopes they will never have to choose between a career and raising a family in the bush.
  
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• New victim identification details released amid Sydney childcare probe

  24-07-2026 03:53 via abc.net.au
  
  Police are still trying to identify a child from a Putney childcare centre in Sydney's north who was found pictured on electronic devices seized from Hamish Tait as part of the investigation.
  
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• Fresh appeal to identify alleged Sydney childcare abuse victims

  24-07-2026 03:53 via abc.net.au
  
  Police are still trying to identify a child from a Putney childcare centre in Sydney's north who was found pictured on electronic devices seized from Hamish Tait as part of the investigation.
  
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• 'Far more' needs to be done to help children leaving state care

  23-07-2026 21:32 via abc.net.au
  
  In Queensland, the Family and Children's Commissioner Luke Twyford, said the situation is "profoundly upsetting".
  
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• Mother furious after Canberra childcare centre ordered to close

  18-07-2026 00:51 via abc.net.au
  
  A Canberra mother had concerns for her daughter's safety at Edge Early Learning in Higgins long before the ACT regulator ordered the centre to close.
  
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• 'I didn't feel safe': Mum reveals concerns before childcare closure

  18-07-2026 00:51 via abc.net.au
  
  A Canberra mother had concerns for her daughter's safety at Edge Early Learning in Higgins long before the ACT regulator ordered the centre to close.
  
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