Childcare advocates want urgent action on systemic sector reform

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The child abuse Royal Commission recommended sweeping changes to the sector eight years ago which focused specifically on perpetrators in childcare settings. However, child protection advocates say the reforms have taken too long. Amanda Paton is the deputy director of the Australian Centre for Child Protection and believes a lot has changed since the final report was handed down in 2017.

Transcript

00:00We have to remember there was multiple institutional settings and a huge volume of work and recommendations

00:08that was set out by the Royal Commission, and I think we've made lots of change, particularly

00:13in areas like the out-of-home care sector, but we simply haven't done enough in this

00:18early childhood or childcare sector, and so we need to really look at the changes that

00:24we have made elsewhere and how we can implement them.

00:26I think there's still a long way to go when we need more responses for victims and survivors

00:32of child sexual abuse, but the childcare sector, we just simply haven't gone further enough

00:38in this space, but we've made huge strides elsewhere.

00:41One of the recommendations, specifically in the Royal Commission's final report, and this

00:45is a quote, to design and manage environments to minimise the risk of child abuse.

00:51So when you say there's a long way to go, tell us more, what needs to be done now to make

00:56an early childhood environment safe?

01:00I think there's a couple of bits, really.

01:03The first one is the physical environment, so we need to make sure that spaces are open.

01:10There's lots of free flow-through.

01:12So if you're walking through a childcare centre, could you have complete line of sight into all

01:18the areas, so lots of windows, lots of open spaces, no closed or hidden doors, or we really

01:27need to design those baby changing areas and toileting spaces really carefully.

01:33I think that's the physical environment, but then we have the governance and the quality

01:39kind of assurance environment that goes along with that.

01:43And we don't have enough of a child safety lens within our national quality framework.

01:50We don't have enough auditing and enough reviews.

01:53It's all very well having standards, but unless we're monitoring those, unless we're holding

01:58all early childhood settings accountable to actually implement those standards, then we're

02:03not going far enough.

02:04And lastly, I think one of the main ones as well is we simply don't have enough support

02:10and education for our early childhood staff working in the centres, so they're not really

02:16clear on what to look out for in terms of the signs of child sexual abuse, all those

02:20little micro signs of a person who is intent on harming children, what that might look like,

02:27and then what to do with it and the confidence to actually report it.

02:30So there's multiple pieces I think we need to really look at.

02:33Just on the idea of open planned spaces and, as you say, identifying those red flags,

02:40do you think we should go down the path of CCTV, for example, to ensure that we can see every

02:46corner of the early childhood setting?

02:49Yeah, look, we're not opposed to CCTV mechanisms.

02:54I think what we have to be very careful of, though, is, again, what are we doing with those videos?

02:59What's the purpose of them?

03:01Are they being reviewed?

03:02I think CCTV can act as a deterrent.

03:06And maybe if a person who was intent on harming children had a choice of working at two daycares,

03:12one with a CCTV capacity and the other without, then it's going to make more sense for them to work at the one that doesn't have the CCTV.

03:20So I think it's fine, but I think there needs to be regulations and safety nets around that,

03:25particularly with our increasing use of AI and digital tech within Australia.

03:31So, let's open these tools together.

03:34So, let's see.

03:36So, let's see.

03:39We've got our ability to get more disseiences on the line.

03:43So, we got our music.

03:48So, let's push this out.

03:50We've got the help of data.

03:51By the way, we've got our kids involved.

03:52We're going to help to pull this up kind of easy trial.

03:53So, let's see.

03:55Let's see.

03:57Have a good helpful time.

03:58So, let's take it.

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