Australian Centre for Child Protection recommends parents to tour childcare centres before choosing one

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The child abuse allegations against a childcare worker in Melbourne have shocked people around the country. Amanda Peyton is the Deputy Director of the Australian Centre for Child Protection and says there are a few key things anxious parents can do.

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00:00Some parents, they don't have a choice in the childcare that they go to, but I think

00:06there's a few things that as a parent you can do. So definitely ask for a tour and to

00:12speak to different staff and make sure you interact with different childcare staff as

00:18you go through that tour. As you're walking through, kind of have a bit of a look at,

00:23as you're walking through the centre, if you were a childcare worker, can you incidentally

00:27see the kids interacting with the other childcare staff? Would you be able to see through that

00:34line of sight? So is the environment really open plan kind of rooms, making sure there's

00:41no kind of closed doors. We want to see lots of windows and open spaces where you could

00:46actually observe staff with the children and interacting with the children. I think the

00:52second thing is to don't be afraid to ask what your child protection policy is. You should

00:59be able and you should expect that managers or supervisors in centres can show you a copy

01:05of that child protection policy. You also want to know things like, do the staff there have

01:12industry-specific child safe training? And that's critical to make sure it's actually contextualised

01:18for that setting. We want to make sure that care staff are knowledgeable and understand what child

01:26abuse looks like, how to recognise the signs of child abuse and monitor those really small,

01:32incremental behaviours. But we also want to know that they actually have the confidence and the

01:38understanding of, if they do have concerns, that they know where they can go and that there's

01:43appropriate reporting mechanisms within each centre to actually report concerns.

01:50And probably the last thing that I would say is you really do want to have an understanding of

01:55other policies and practices within the centre, things like looking at the bathrooms, sleeping

02:01arrangements. And the other big one that we're seeing more of now, and I think it really does apply

02:06to this case as well, is parents receive photos and videos throughout the day of their children

02:13interacting and playing, which is great. And as a parent, I know I really enjoyed receiving those.

02:18But we need to ask the questions of what devices are being used to take those photos and take those

02:24images and where are they stored and what happens with them once your child leaves the centre or once

02:31those photos are sent to the to the parents of those children, you know, what happens with those

02:37photos and and really making sure that any cameras or recording devices that are taking photos of your

02:43children are the property of the daycare centre and not personal personal phones or devices of the

02:50childcare workers.

02:51And is it worth finding out as well if parents can drop in at any time? Amanda, is that a common safeguard?

02:56Absolutely. And I think you should be able to. There's no reason why, as a parent, you can't drop in.

03:03You can't go and see your child at any time in a daycare centre. I know daycare centres might find that a bit

03:09hard and might see it as a bit disruptive. But as a parent, that's your right, particularly in these settings

03:15and particularly where you've got younger children that may not be able to come home and tell you all about their

03:21day and what's happened. So we really do need to take the time as parents that drop off and pick up to watch

03:28and to observe. And as I said, really take that time to to walk through the centre and and try and get a bit

03:34of a feel for for what it might be like for a childcare worker. And we don't want to see any hidden hidden kind

03:41of places or, you know, private areas of the centre. And don't be shy about asking difficult

03:47questions. Absolutely. And, you know, you have a right to ask those questions as a parent and we

03:52should be asking those questions.

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