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

A litany of failures and a lack of transparency put the sector firmly in the spotlight last year, and what was exposed was disturbing, particularly for parents who entrust their vulnerable little ones to professionals they trust to protect them. A lot of the issues that have bedevilled childcare have festered for years, but came into national focus as an issue of urgent concern thanks to dogged and difficult journalism, not only from The Sun-Herald but also from Gold Walkley winners Adele Ferguson and Chris Gillett at the ABC.

The scale of the problem was shocking, and it was reinforced by a NSW parliamentary inquiry that hauled in the chief executives of large organisations for........

© The Sydney Morning Herald