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SDN Children’s Services proudly marks a remarkable milestone: 120 years of supporting children and families across NSW and the ACT.
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Fiona Alston
Dec 09, 2025
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On 7 December 2025, SDN commemorated 120 years since opening its first centre in Woolloomooloo, Sydney. SDN has celebrated its 120-year history throughout the calendar year with events at NSW Parliament House, history tours, the creation of a special time capsule, and now the launch of a history book.
Breaking Down Barriers: A History of Integrated Service Delivery Authored by SDN Archivist Ben Woods, Breaking Down Barriers: A history of integrated delivery at SDN Children’s Services explores how SDN’s founding values have shaped the organisation’s integrated approach to programs and improved outcomes for children and families.From early interventions and the establishment of SDN Beranga Autism-Specific Preschool to today’s integrated therapy hubs model, the book highlights SDN’s role in breaking down barriers and creating opportunities for inclusion.
The book is a companion piece to Dr Leone Huntsman’s For the Little Ones, the Best: SDN Children’s Services 1905–2005, which broadly covers the development and progress of SDN up to its centenary in 2005.
This work draws on research by Dr Sandie Wong and Professor Deborah Brennan, interviews with SDN staff past and present, and treasures from the SDN Archive.
SDN CEO Kay Turner reflects: “This book is a testament to the incredible work and dedication of people over more than a century.
“It reminds us that breaking down barriers for children and families has always been at the heart of SDN’s mission, and continues to guide us into the future,” she said.
SDN has a long history of designing and delivering programs that support inclusion. The book follows a timeline of policy and societal change while profiling the leadership legacies of CEOs Tonia Godhard AM and Ginie Udy, and current SDN CEO, Kay Turner, who began her career as a special needs teacher.
For Kay, SDN does what it has always done, and that is to “put the child and family at the centre” in all its diversity. She says that while the founders of SDN wouldn’t have necessarily used the word ‘holistic’, that is in essence what they were doing when matrons made home visits in 1912 and when some centres had a dental room in the 1950s.
“Indeed, it is this strong commitment to social justice, combined with our focus on early intervention and the dedicated casework of our Family Preservation and Children’s Therapies teams, that sets us apart from other large not-for-profit early childhood education organisations.”
A digital version of the book can be downloaded from the SDN website.
About the Author
Ben Woods has been the SDN Archivist since 2021 and is the Senior Archivist at Australian Mutuals Archives. He has also worked at the State Library of NSW, NSW Parliament and as a journalist. He holds a Masters of Human Rights which included a curatorial internship with WA Museum.Main photo is of an SDN child with a hearing impairment enjoying a visit to the Sydney Symphony Orchestra in 1964.
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