Canberra is currently working on reforms to improve child safety. The education minister wants the government to have powers to strip childcare centres of funding if they don't meet safety standards.
00:00It certainly has. So, when we're looking at regulation of the childcare sector, Australian
00:09standards are typically set at a national level. However, it comes down to state and
00:17territory regulators to enforce them. Now, Federal Education Minister Jason Clare has
00:23been speaking extensively about this today. Something that he would like to see changed
00:29is the Federal Government having powers to actually strip childcare centres of funding
00:34if they don't meet national safety standards. Now, that's something that could potentially
00:41lead to change, given that the Federal Government does provide a majority of the funding that
00:46ensures that centres can operate. However, it also then comes with some potential challenges.
00:54If centres are being stripped of their funding, there is a potential risk of them closing.
00:58or no longer operating. And we do know that there already is such a significant issue in
01:04this sector when it comes to supply and parents not being able to currently get their children
01:10into childcare. Now, the Federal Government doesn't currently have those powers. Jason Clare
01:17has flagged that he is preparing legislation to ensure that happens. But when it comes to
01:23these issues and concerns within the childcare sector, this is something that has been known
01:29for quite some time. But it was particularly put in the spotlight during that Four Corners reporting
01:35earlier this year, where it exposed deep failures and systemic issues within the sector and plaguing
01:44the sector. Now, as a result of that reporting and all these concerns that have been brought to light,
01:50a meeting between the Federal Education Minister and State and Territory Education Ministers
01:56last week really focused on this issue. Those ministers were briefed by sector experts. They
02:03put forward some recommendations. Here's what Federal Education Minister Jason Clare had to say
02:09about that meeting and what happens next. Now ministers are working together on a package of further reforms
02:16that are needed to make sure that our early education and care centres are as safe as they need to be.
02:22Romy, is the Working With Children Check system currently working across the country?
02:28This is something that the Education Minister also spoke about today and addressed, saying it's taken too long to do the work
02:39necessary to ensure the working with children system is up to scratch. So, back in 2015, a Royal Commission
02:46actually recommended that the Commonwealth establish a centralised database for the Working With Children
02:54Checks within 12 months. Now, it's hoped that something like that could lead to better harmonisation and, um, and also, I guess, improved information sharing between the states and the state's
03:08and territories. However, we're now a decade on and that still hasn't happened. Now, it's something that Attorney
03:15General Michelle Rowland has also spoken about today, um, saying that the outcome from that Royal Commission has highlighted the need for a uniform approach.
03:25She's also flagged that during her next meeting with the country's Attorneys General, she will be bringing up this issue of working with Children's Checks.
03:37It is important that while states have their own schemes and responsibilities, that we do have that uniformity to ensure that it can be trusted, to ensure that we have appropriate measures, including, for example, real-time updates and ensuring that that register is up to date.
03:55Now, it's important to note that there have been a number of changes implemented, um, in this field recently. That includes childcare workers being banned from using their personal mobile phones and devices inside centres. That's something that's currently voluntary and it will become mandatory in September. But it's clear that governments and ministers have acknowledged today that more needs to be done and more needs to be done as well.
