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One of the most infuriating aspects of this week’s childcare abuse allegations is that this isn’t a one-off. This year has brought a litany of reports of children being physically and sexually abused, fed disgusting food, and not having nappies changed.
But how common are these serious breaches? As early childhood researcher Erin Harper explains, we don’t actually know.
Different reporting systems at federal and state levels make it hard to track the problem. Crucial information about safety breaches isn’t being properly shared between jurisdictions.
Despite this, there’s plenty the federal government can do to stamp out sexual abuse in care settings. Ben Mathews outlines ten key policy steps that can be implemented right now.
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Judith Ireland
Education Editor
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Erin Harper, University of Sydney
States and territories collect different kinds of information about child safety. So it is hard to know what is going on in childcare centres.
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Ben Mathews, Queensland University of Technology
Recent horrific allegations of sexual abuse in early childhood education and care centres could be a turning point for Australia. Here’s what needs to happen next.
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Nial Wheate, Macquarie University; Slade Matthews, University of Sydney
If you take a vitamin B6 supplement, watch out for these three symptoms.
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Grace McQuilten, RMIT University; Kate MacNeill, The University of Melbourne
Creative Australia has reinstated Khaled Sabsabi and Michael Dagostino as the creative team for the 2026 Venice Biennale – after facing much criticism.
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Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra
Two vexed issues – how Australia manages immigration detainees with criminal records, and balancing free speech vs hate speech – once dominated news headlines. Not anymore.
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Juliet Rogers, The University of Melbourne
Survivor testimonies hope for understanding, empathy – and change. From the Yoorrook Commission to Gaza and Israel, they build a case for justice in a shared future.
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Alan Pearce, Swinburne University of Technology
If more isn’t done to combat concussion and chronic traumatic encephalopathy, more families will be grieving tragic deaths.
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Dimitrios Salampasis, Swinburne University of Technology
Regulators suspect some social media accounts have broken the law by giving unlicensed financial advice. Here’s how to avoid them.
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Alex Sen Gupta, UNSW Sydney; Katrin Meissner, UNSW Sydney; Timothy H. Raupach, UNSW Sydney
Cutting data climate collection – as the Trump administration is now trying to do – is like breaking a thermometer to avoid knowing you’ve got a fever.
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Bo Li, University of Wollongong; Jianhui Liu, Yunnan Provincial Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology; Robin Dennell, University of Sheffield; Xing Gao, Chinese Academy of Sciences
300,000-year-old wooden tools found in southwestern China reveal surprising sophistication from the ancestors of modern humans.
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Politics + Society
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Timothy Welch, University of Auckland, Waipapa Taumata Rau
The Cook Strait ferry fiasco is just another symptom of a wider malaise: an inability to deliver, on time and at cost, the infrastructure that keeps the economy moving.
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Delanie Woodlock, UNSW Sydney; Lenka Olejnikova, UNSW Sydney
We must recognise that while men make up only a small proportion of childcare workers, they are responsible for the majority of child sexual abuse cases within them.
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Health + Medicine
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Charlotte Gupta, CQUniversity Australia
A new study suggests eating dairy products before bed could be linked to nightmares. Here’s why cheese could be a culprit.
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Elizabeth Westrupp, Deakin University
These conversations don’t have to be frightening. There are age-appropriate ways to teach kids shame-free language about bodies and boundaries.
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Environment + Energy
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Rebecca McNaught, University of Sydney; Jo Longman, University of Sydney
After the 2022 Northern Rivers floods, the complex and difficult work of women was largely overlooked.
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Science + Technology
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Omid Ghasemi, UNSW Sydney
A 70,000-person global study found understanding how events such as fires and floods are linked to climate change may be a key driver of support for climate action.
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Elizabeth Leane, University of Tasmania; Keith Larson, Umeå University
In a world impacted by climate change, Antarctica holds the key to everyone’s future.
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Arts + Culture
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Stephen Kerry, Charles Darwin University
Research shows how the Dalai Lama is emerging an an unlikely inspiration for individuals who share trans and Buddhist identities.
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Samuel Cairnduff, The University of Melbourne
Khaled Sabsabi has been reinstated as Australia representative for the Venice Biennale. A review offers a damning but restrained post-mortem.
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Books + Ideas
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Fergus Edwards, University of Tasmania; Lucy Christopher, University of Tasmania
The WritersBLOCK / ReadersBLOCK project in Hobart is a reminder of the importance of stories, and the benefits of making time to slow down and enjoy them.
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Your Say
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Men in childcare
"It worries me to think we might end up chasing men out of any caring roles with children. Children need surrogate dads as well as mums and it would be a dangerous overreaction to reinforce the patriarchal notion that only women care for and raise children. Let's work hard to make childcare centres safe by creating better systems. not by discriminating against half our population."
Penny Szentkuti, Tempe NSW 
"Before describing women as safe and men as a danger to young children, remember Lucy Letby, the serial baby killer in the UK. While it's true men are far more implicated in sexual offences and therefore are a greater risk, it doesn't follow that being a woman automatically makes you a safe option for children. Vetting candidates is problematic at best, proper procedures in situ are more vital to reducing the incidence of this scourge."
Mike Shellshear
Bigger problem?
"Isn’t the obscene situation of child abuse a symptom of a bigger issue in society? The combination of excessive debt for housing and the rise of the ridiculous need for 'gender equity' in the workplace is forcing couples into abandoning their children to predators. When will we, as a society, realise that we have gone down the wrong path? Parents need to be looking after their own children."
Guy Forsyth
We'd love to hear from you. You can email us with your thoughts on our stories and each day we'll publish an edited selection.
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University of Technology, Sydney
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