ABC’s latest Four Corners investigation has exposed ongoing safety concerns across Australia’s childcare industry, despite recent government reforms.

Some key findings from the investigation:

• More than 1,300 childcare services currently fail to meet national quality standards, affecting approximately 48,000 childcare places.
• 56% of Little Zak’s Academy centres have been subject to enforcement action in the past two years.
• Almost 600 regulatory breaches were confirmed across Little Zak’s centres between 2020 and September 2025, including 181 relating to supervision, discipline and child safety.
• More than a quarter of Only About Children’s centres have faced enforcement action over the past two years.
• Despite new government powers to withdraw childcare subsidies from poorly performing providers, neither of these major operators has been included in the funding crackdown.
• More than 70% of Australia’s long daycare services are operated by for-profit providers, despite not-for-profit and community-run centres generally achieving better quality ratings.

The investigation raises serious questions about regulatory oversight, transparency, and whether the current childcare funding model prioritises commercial interests over children’s safety.

With billions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies flowing into the sector each year, are the government’s reforms going far enough to ensure childcare providers are being held accountable?

Source: ABC News / Four Corners, 27 October 2026

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-10-27/childcare-industry-faces-reckoning-but-safety-gaps-remain/107288858

FTM to a very small baby boy. Had quite the eventful hospital stay which feels so long ago now and I can’t believe we’re still 2 weeks in - it feels like months have already passed since bub was born. Pre pregnancy I have always loved my sleep, and I knew sleep would never be the same after baby but the constant lack of sleep is taking a toll on me. I love my baby so so much, I think I actually had baby pinks on the first week, now I might have crashed and I’m just so tired. It doesn’t help that even though I feel like I’m not rested, I also am not able to keep up with the 2-3 hourly pumping on top of breastfeeding. I need to pump so we can provide him with top-ups (he needs this as he is very small). I only pump around 3 times a day and now that baby is feeding more frequently and taking in more milk, I don’t think my top-up stash can keep up. I feel overwhelmed :/ should I have a fixed routine by now and should I just really suck it up in terms of feeling tired all the time?

Just a rant/looking for commiseration…

I was so excited for my baby to eat solids. Saw so many posts about babies excited to eat, mums from my mums group starting, and all the thing about BLW and cooking for baby.

My baby is 6.5 months old and has 0 interest. She will barely touch food let alone eat it despite putting literally everything else in her mouth. She’s mouthed a cucumber and that was the closest she got. Hoping a switch flips at some point and she decides she does actually want to eat!

First off, I wanted to say thank you to everyone that replied to my previous post about when to start looking into childcare for bubby. I have since started looking at and booking in tours at daycares close to home to get on top of everything ASAP!

My next challenge for those willing to get involved, is providing any recommendations on questions I should be asking the service managers at each centre. 🥹

I have a few generic ones listed in my notes, but I’d prefer some other parents help me brainstorm questions in hopes I’ll come across some I haven’t thought to ask yet, especially the kind of questions which answers
might be different to each centre.

I greatly appreciate any participation as all the help makes everything feel less daunting! 🫶

I am going crazy over my lack of sleep. I just want to sleep through the night! I can’t remember the last time I got 8 hours of sleep, but it was probably before I got pregnant (I had a shit pregnancy). It’s 1:35am and I don’t even want to go back to sleep because I know my baby (7 months) will wake up soon. It’s partly my fault because my baby does a good first stretch, but I don’t want to go to sleep when he does (6-7pm) because I want my “me time” where I sit and do nothing except watch TV and doom scroll. Do I just force myself to go to sleep when he does? Do I sleep train?? (I still rock/feed my baby to sleep). Idk anymore.

Hey!

I'm planning out my return to work, and am just trying to work out what my morning routine would look like, and factor it into my morning commute.

How long does your morning drop off take? What does it involve?

Edit to add: she will be 14 months old. Idk if this makes a difference.

Hello I’m 11 months postpartum and my hands fingers and wrists started to ache a few weeks ago now they’re pretty achey especially at night and by the end of the day. I’ve been wearing a splint to bed on my right one as that’s worse and have been to physio but they’re still extremely sore. I’ve had an ultrasound and it was board line carpal tunnel mostly just inflammation. Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated.

Can anyone please give me some suggestions on what we can do to get our baby to gain weight/grow more.

We are seeing dieticians but nobody is listening and it’s starting to really piss me off. It’s not my first baby and I know something is up but god forbid you listen to the mother - so I need suggestions on what you used (whether it was a specialised feed etc) because fortifying formula is not cutting it now

baby turned 6 months today. I am returning to work full time in 2 weeks, baby girl doing a mix of nana, childcare and daddy.
These past two weeks i have been utterly exhausted. I have no motivation no desire for anything. I’m bored out of my mind. I mix up between crying because I don’t wanna seperate from her, and then I’ve had enough of her. She’s been fighting all naps. I feel
like i’m failing at food with her. I feel so unsupported by everyone. Sometimes i feel like a single mum even though i’ve got a husband. I just want to cry all the time.

I have been perfectly fine for a long time. The first 8 weeks of her life i was sooo depressed, but then i was perfectly ok. But now it’s just gone downhill again.

I’ll be looking at moving her into her own room shortly because i’ve just started co sleeping again because it’s the only way I can rest.

Looking to purchase a skateboard attachment for my toddler for the pram (as the newborn has priority for the seat). The brand of my pram doesn't make an attachment so looking for a universal one that's decent. Otherwise, I've seen ads for the Hoppie, not sure if this is the better option. Any help is appreciated!

Hi all,
My son has been toilet training for about 3 months now (it’s been a work in progress) and he got really good at telling me when he needed to wee, or just took himself to the potty and he was starting to do poo’s in the toilet at home too (at anyone elses house or out is a different story)
Basically, he hasn’t been 100% toilet trained but we were seeing progress. Over the last few days he has started doing both wee’s and poo’s in his undies again, is it normal for him to regress like this? Is there anything I can do to help him get back on track?
He turns 3 next week and starts preschool in January so I’m really hoping to have him fully toilet trained by then.

I’m so sick, I’ve got a toddler that is also so sick (with what we don’t know yet, test results coming back tomorrow) and my pregnancy insomnia is in full swing. I’m exhausted but can’t sleep a wink and I can barely breathe I’m so congested.

Genuinely, please, any pregnancy safe hacks or things to try. I’m losing the plot.

Hey all,

Probably more of a rant than anything, but I am pregnant with my 3rd (1 living child) and my goodness, I am absolutely losing myself. Everything around me seems to be collapsing too. Just can’t seem to keep the stress down.

I am overwhelmed. It’s like 8 weeks until Christmas. All of my savings have just gone to my car breaking down, and now my partners car is breaking down. I am constantly pissed off, sad, and on edge.

I work part-time at a really mentally tiring job that starts at 4:40, finishes at 10-11pm at night. I would take on more but my partners work is more demanding of him staying back and being readily available so I can’t take on more than my 4 shifts a fortnight or it puts pressure on his job. My start time isn’t overly flexible either. I can save - it is just taking forever and I wasn’t expecting my car to gulp everything I had saved already. And my car isn’t even completely fixed. I am just playing catch up. I don’t have family to help, and I am going to start applying for daycares and a second job just to get ahead which is going to kill me as I am already having a mentally and physically difficult pregnancy. Hopefully I can get a second job and her into a daycare. Not what I want to do, but it feels like what I need to do.

All I want to do is give my almost 2 year old a good little Christmas. It’s even worse when we’re playing financial catch up and being added to christmas present groups, like yeah no, christmas is cancelled on our end lol. Sorry. We’ve been asked for money towards another family member’s kids Dirtbikes, i was a little taken a back, I was just going to get their kids some books or something.

Anyways,

Cost of living sucks, screw cars AND pregnancy is HARD. My goodness.

Hi all
Just wondering if anyone had recently been to the park Hyatt since the maternity ward has been renovated? Is it worth the move ?
Any major negatives?
Thanks!!

Right on 8 weeks bub seems to be going through a regression. I didnt realise bubs had a regression at 8 weeks but apparently they do. Keen to hear everyone's tips for getting through this phase and how long did your bubs regression last?

I’m starting to get anxious. I was referred to Sunshine Hospital in Melbourne’s West at 11w, and after 3 weeks of hearing nothing I called for them to tell me they never received my referral because the GP faxed it and they’re fax “sometimes misses things” (wtf!!!?). So they gave me an email which I passed onto my GP clinic and they’ve confirmed they’ve emailed it.

It’s been a week since then and I still haven’t heard anything. I am almost 16 weeks pregnant. I’ve had three scans done in early weeks, and NIPT, which my GP helped me sort, so that’s thankfully all done.

I feel so lost and worried I have no care at the moment, just in limbo. I’ve definitely missed out on any hope of getting into the MGP.

Does anyone have any experiences of not starting antenatal care until later on?

I’m quite an anxious “patient” when it comes to health care and my body and health. And not knowing what the plan is or what’s upcoming is really concerning me. I’m now fearful that the hospital is too overrun and my care will be treated poorly and catastrophising what birth and post partum will be like at the hands of them.

Im deciding to go with pads rather than nappies for postpartum as I can’t find a nappy in my size. I did get a sample from depend but it felt too bunched up between the legs. Im looking for the longest pad possible as I don’t want any leakage. Can anyone recommend any?

My first babies are my little dogs, with whom I have lived for the last decade. They are both technically “seniors” but are still very energetic and puppy-like. I have a somewhat codependent relationship with them. They’re both small and don’t really seem to want that much exercise etc, but they both love snuggles and cuddles - frequently. I am due in a couple of months with my first, and I am so fearful that I won’t be able to give them the attention they deserve. And while I hope they live forever, I’m mindful that they are in their older years now, and they deserve all of the special care while they’re still here on this earth. Maybe I’m just feeling emotional with pregnancy hormones - but can anyone reassure me that my furry babies will still have a good quality of life, and will still know how much I adore them, when baby comes? At the moment, they’re my whole world 😭

Hi everyone!

I'm curious how much others spent during pregnancy and preparing for their baby's arrival.

I'd love to hear your approximate costs for:

• appointments (GP, midwife, specialist visits)
• tests/scans (ultrasounds, NIPT, blood tests)
• hospital/birth in the public system
• classes etc

How much did you spend overall? Were there any unexpected costs, or things you'd recommend saving money on?

Would especially love to hear from those who went through the public system in Victoria. Thanks! 😊

looking for summer shoes for my 18mo that can get wet? for moments I don't want her barefoot but she will likely get her feet soaked... ive been looking online and only getting more confused. plus the sizing... wth?

Background context: Our almost 3yo has been toilet trained since April this year. I would say we’ve had a relatively smooth time with this, we used a sticker chart at home for rewards when he showed interest, we didn’t force him, just went with his cues.

In that initial first week of training, he was nervous to poo at daycare, but we got over that after the first week and it was all good. It’s been smooth enough that we haven’t even used nappies overnights since the start of June because he said he didn’t want to wear them. We totally expected to have some overnight accidents since then but have only had one to deal with.

Problem: for the last month, he has stopped pooing in the toilet at daycare and has been doing it in his undies. He doesn’t do this at home, he always tells us when he needs to go and even takes himself there.

We’ve been talking with the educators about it and what to do and they’ve just been saying it happens and he’ll get there. They talk to him about it to and give him opportunities throughout the day to go but he only tells them after his done it.

I don’t know what more we can do to encourage him to do it in the toilet at daycare. We’ve tried buying him special undies that we don’t want to throw away (daycare policy and literally in this economy, I am sick of buying undies just for them to be thrown away), have tried the rewards of a special car when he does a poo. Nothing is sticking. It’s frustrating because he tells us that he’s done it and he’s sad about.

Any advice welcomed, I am pulling my hair out.

Hi all,

I am looking for a short sleeve button up shirt for my 9 month old for Christmas day.

We usually dress up for Christmas, wearing our Christmas best.

I have looked at next, iconic, David Jones, Myer, purebaby, best and less, Kmart eetc.

Haven't found anything I like.

I'd prefer a louder pattern, nothing with typical boy prints (dinosaurs, cars trucks etc). My family typically wear what we call shit shirts (a nice but loud,colourful pattern not Hawaiian etc).

Up to 60aud.

Can anyone recommend a site?

Thanks