Urgent recommendations made in wake of horror alleged childcare rape charges

Childcare staff could be banned from using personal mobile phones while at work, after Australia’s worst alleged child sex offender was arrested in Queensland.

Childcare staff could be banned from using personal mobile phones while at work, in the wake of the arrest of Australia’s worst alleged child sex offender.

The ban was one of 16 recommendations made in a new report from the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority.

The report was begun before the arrest of Gold Coast man Ashley Paul Griffith, but has taken on added urgency after he was charged with more than 1600 offences including rape, indecent treatment of children and making and possessing child exploitation material.

Griffith is accused of raping and abusing 91 girls at various centres in Queensland, New South Wales and overseas across a 15-year period.

Griffith was arrested in August 2022 after objects in the background of the videos and photographs were traced back to a Brisbane childcare centre by Australian Federal Police.

The report recommended anyone working in a centre-based service in any capacity be prohibited from having personal electronic devices that could take images or video while with children.

Ashley Paul Griffith is facing more than 1600 charges.

Only devices belonging to the childcare centre should be used to take images or videos of children, and this must only occur with explicit consent from parents to ensure they are aware of the content being captured and how the information will beshared or stored.

“There is a very real risk that unscrupulous persons within a service could use their own personal device to take images of a child and share these images inappropriately with others who are not educators or parents,” the report said.

“This risk includes taking inappropriate images, in particular where physical or sexual abuse

is occurring to the child or sexualised images of the child are produced.”

The report also said there should be a clear line of sight to observe childcare workers at all times, including in toilets and nappy change rooms.

The authority also sounded the alarm on children and young people having their own personal devices, following reported incidents of children using them to take inappropriate images of other children, often where unsupervised in the toilet facilities.

The report recommended reporting time frames for incidents or allegations of physical and sexual abuse be shortened from seven days to within 24 hours so that authorities could intervene earlier.

State and territory ministers will meet with federal Education Minister Jason Clare early in the new year to consider the recommendations and consult with the sector about implementation.

Mr Clare said the safety and protection of children attending early childhood education continued to be a high priority for all levels of government.

“Australia has a very good system of early childhood education and care, but more can be done to ensure the National Quality Framework remains contemporary and fit for purpose in the context of child safety,” he said.

Early Childhood Education Minister Anne Aly said all governments were committed to ensuring that providers of early childhood education and care embed a child safe culture.

“The world-leading NQF sets a high national quality standard for early childhood education and child care providers across the country, based on international research evidence,” Dr Aly said.

“This report highlights the NQF can be better, and we are absolutely committed to making it better so that our children have a positive, rewarding and safe early childhood education.”