The Sydney Morning Herald logo
Advertisement
Mary Ward

Mary Ward

Mary Ward is a reporter at The Sun-Herald.

Baby names gif

In the 1960s, it was David and Karen. Now, these two baby names seem set to rule the 2020s

NSW’s top baby names for 2025 have been revealed.

  • Mary Ward

Latest

One type of school has been falling out of the top HSC results over the past 20 years.

These types of schools are becoming harder to find in the HSC rankings

The same 19 selective schools have placed in Herald’s HSC top 100 for the past 20 years. Other public schools have become scarce.

  • Mary Ward
Redfern Station Christmas AI GIF

Redfern station’s AI-generated Christmas artwork to be removed

The scene featured a koala head on a kangaroo’s torso, a rodent with limbs not connected to its body, and kangaroos wearing bikini tops.

  • Mary Ward
HSC subject enrolments.

The high-scaling HSC subjects students are abandoning – and the ones they are flocking to

Extension 2 mathematics will have its largest-ever cohort when the HSC begins on Thursday. But the picture isn’t so rosy for English.

  • Lucy Carroll and Mary Ward
Jermaine Jones a Sydney construction worker has run 34 marathons around Centennial Park in 34 days for charity. Last one is Saturday. He ran out of annual leave so he’s been running after work every day, Centenial Park, Sydney, 25 September 2025. Photo Jessica Hromas

Like thousands of Sydneysiders, Jermaine ran a marathon last month. But he didn’t stop

Jermaine Jones will on Saturday complete 34 marathons in as many days, mostly by running laps around Centennial Park after a full day at work.

  • Mary Ward
Photographs of an Illawarra solarium business run out of two residential properties. The business, which charged $35 for 35 minutes in a dangerous sunbed, was recently busted by EPA investigators. 

‘DM to book’: The secret solariums operating inside suburban homes

More than a decade after the suntanning salons were banned in NSW, a fresh crackdown on covert operators is under way.

  • Mary Ward
Advertisement
Hyde Park apartment boom index image

‘Downsizer territory’: Who’s moving into Hyde Park’s apartment boom?

Luxury CBD living is popular in other world cities but Sydneysiders have largely shied away from living in the city’s centre.

  • Mary Ward
Adam Weeks and Cara Delarue with their four children Ivory, 3, Elijah, 7, Madelyn, 4, and Kohen, 5.

‘You’re saving money by having children go without’: Parents scared of NDIS changes

Sydney parents have criticised announced changes to autism on the NDIS but there is cautious optimism the change could allow children to access earlier support.

  • Mary Ward and Kate Aubusson
The Sydney Morning Herald’s Associate Editor Kathryn Wicks.

Herald’s ‘backbone and heart’ honoured at Kennedy Awards

The Herald’s associate editor Kathryn Wicks received the award for outstanding team player or mentor at the 2025 Kennedy Awards.

  • Mary Ward
St Mary’s High School HSC students, from left, Judy Chen, Mauli Nayak, and John Jackson have all chosen the most popular – and some would say difficult – combination of courses.

The HSC course combination most popular with 99.95 ATAR students

It’s a timetable that would terrify many students, but each year the state’s highest achievers concentrate on five subjects.

  • Mary Ward