Review says ban personal phones and boost supervision in toilets, change areas to protect kids in childcare

Ban childcare staff from carrying their phones at work, report incidents within 24 hours and tighten supervision requirements to better protect children, a new safety review has warned.

Ban childcare staff from carrying their phones at work, report incidents within 24 hours and tighten supervision requirements to better protect children, a new safety review has warned.

Preventing workers using personal devices that capture video and photos while they are with children is one of 16 recommendations the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority has urged state and federal governments to implement after finding current safety arrangements could be improved.

The changes recommended to reduce “harm, abuse and neglect” in early education centres follow the August arrest of a former childcare worker Ashley Paul Griffith, who was charged with 1,623 child abuse offences against 91 children committed in Brisbane, Sydney and overseas between 2007 and 2022.

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 be shared or stored.

Ashley Paul Griffith is facing more than 1600 charges.

The review, released on Thursday, recommended anyone who is working at a childcare centre “in any capacity” be prohibited from having a personal device capable of capturing images, like phones and tablets, on their person while they are with children.

“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 review 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 authority also sounded the alarm about 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”.

Reporting time frames for incidents or allegations of physical and sexual abuse should also be shortened from seven days to within 24 hours so that authorities can intervene earlier.

The review also recommended government effectively scrap the ability for childcare providers to apply for a waiver allowing one staff member to supervise children in areas like the toilets and nappy changing facilities.

A new safety review says alleged incidents of abuse in childcare should be reported within 24 hours, not seven days.

Governments are also being urged to reassess building requirements to ensure the design of facilities allows for “unimpeded supervision of children at all times”.

The review does not address specific incidents, but the authors said its need and urgency were “highlighted by reported critical incidents and allegations” since the report was commissioned in May.

This included the “alarming and distressing” revelations of Griffith’s alleged crimes.

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.”