‘Inconvenient’ childcare close times to keep kids safe
Parents may be upset, but leaders say closing child care centers a few nights early each year will help keep children safe.
Early education centers will be able to close at 5pm five times a year for compulsory education, in the latest response to recent scandals that have plagued the sector.
Reforms being implemented include cutting funding to centers that lack safety standards, a mobile phone ban for staff, a CCTV trial and a national register of childcare workers.
Education Minister Jason Clare said compulsory safety training could be the most important measure.
“Our best actors in keeping our children safe are the workers in our centers,” he said Sunday.
“This will cause discomfort for some parents across the country, I understand that.
“But I hope parents agree with me that there is nothing more important than keeping their children safe, and providing this education in this way will ensure that it is done the right way.”
Implementing the measure will cost the federal government $40 million.
National Leader David Littleproud agreed it would be worth changing a few early finishes for children’s safety.
“This inconvenience is an investment in the safety of our children and you can’t put a price on that,” he told Nine’s Weekend Today.
“I understand the frustration, but if it adds value and protects our children, we have to accept it, no matter how long it takes. That’s our responsibility.”
Early Childhood Education Minister Jess Walsh said the training would help educators and staff identify behaviors that need to be reported and give them the confidence to report them in a timely manner.
The Australian Childcare Alliance welcomed the move but stressed the reforms should not increase staff workload.
“It is important that implementation is accompanied by practical funding support, reasonable notice periods for families and flexibility to meet these obligations without destabilizing operations,” said ACA president Paul Mondo.
Centers will give parents plenty of information about early closing times to minimize inconvenience.
Mandatory child safety training was a measure adopted by Australian education ministers following sickening allegations against Melbourne childcare worker Joshua Dale Brown.
Brown, who is known to have worked at 24 facilities between 2017 and 2025, was accused of sexually abusing eight children under the age of two.
Mr Clare said the move had reduced vacancy rates and increased job applications. Child care workers will also receive their final 15 percent pay increase on Monday.
Other measures being implemented include trialling CCTV in up to 300 centres, as well as testing national registers of childcare workers.
National monitoring of controls on working with children is also on the agenda.
Currently, defendants can potentially keep their checks for years until they need to be renewed.
All jurisdictions have agreed to sign up to a “national continuous checking capability” that will allow state and territory police databases to be used to monitor the criminal histories of check holders in “near real time”.
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