OPINION: End of 2026, Still No Ratio Reform: How Long Can the Sector Be Ignored?

As 2026 winds down, educators across Australia are asking the same question they’ve been asking all year: Why haven’t ratios been addressed?

Despite months of advocacy, countless submissions, and direct feedback from the floor, the issue remains untouched. Ratios, the single most urgent concern raised by educators, have been sidelined in favour of training modules, registers, and compliance tweaks.

Yes, we’ve seen movement in workforce pay, child safety training, and regulation. But the one thing that determines whether educators can actually keep children safe, supported, and emotionally secure—staffing ratios and group sizes is still being tiptoed around.

Educators Have Been Saying It Loudly, Repeatedly, and Professionally

Throughout 2026, the message has been consistent:

Minimum ratios are not enough
Under-roof ratios are being misused
Two‑educator minimums must be mandatory
Group sizes must be capped to protect children and educators
Children with additional needs are being left unsupported
Educators are burning out trying to do the impossible

These aren’t complaints. They’re warnings. And they’ve been delivered with clarity, urgency, and sector expertise.

What’s Been Delivered—and What’s Still Missing

The promotional materials released this year proudly list:

15% pay rise
Mandatory child safe training
National educator register
Increased penalties
More regulator visits
CCTV assessment

But nowhere in these checklists is the one reform educators have begged for:

Better ratios and capped group sizes.

Not a review. Not a roadmap. Just silence.

Why Ratios and Group Sizes Can’t Wait Until 2027

Ratios and group sizes aren’t future‑planning issues. They’re daily safety issues.

Every day that passes without reform means:

Children are supervised reactively, not proactively
Educators are forced to choose between safety and documentation
Inclusion becomes performative, not practical
Emotional safety is compromised
Burnout accelerates
Abuse risks increase in blind spots like nappy change and toileting areas

CCTV Is Not a Substitute for Staffing

One of the most frustrating developments this year has been the push for CCTV assessments in centres a costly initiative that does not address the root problem.

CCTV:

Does not prevent abuse especially in blind spots like bathrooms and nappy change areas
Does not reduce educator stress
Does not improve child outcomes
Does not replace the presence of a second educator

Redirecting that funding toward employing more staff would have a far greater impact on child safety, educator well-being, and service quality.

The Sector Is Done Tiptoeing

Educators have been patient. They’ve been professional. They’ve been clear.

But as 2026 ends, the message is shifting:

We’re not asking. We’re insisting.
We’re not waiting. We’re documenting.
We’re not whispering. We’re publishing.

Ratio reform and group size caps are not optional. They’re foundational. And if policymakers won’t act, the sector will keep raising its voice louder, clearer, and more united than ever.