Keep Them Safe: calls for mandatory reporting scheme to be expanded

Glaring inconsistencies in rules and obligations for people who work with children across Australia has opened the door for predators, prompting calls for a nationalised child safety system.

• Shock survey exposes Sydney childcare woes

Glaring inconsistencies in rules about who is required to report suspected child abuse, what kind of conduct must be reported, and which professions require working with children checks have prompted renewed calls for a nationalised child safety system.

Sports coaches and dance teachers are among the child-related workers who are not obliged to report child safety concerns in NSW, while bosses of children in settings such as hospitality are not obliged to have working with children checks at all.

The Sunday Telegraph and its sister mastheads have launched the Keep Them Safe campaign to establish a national, public register for people with working with children checks, and nationally consistent standards for people working with our kids.

The campaign launched in the wake of Victoria Police charging Melbourne childcare worker Joshua Dale Brown with alleged offences against children in his care.

Sydney high school teacher Monica Young, swim coach Paul Frost, political candidate Jonathan Doig, Royal Flying Doctor pilot Darryl Gosper, dance teacher Benjamin Stokes and childcare worker Ashley Griffiths are among the Australian child-related workers jailed for child abuse or child abuse material offences in recent years.

CEO of The Parenthood Georgie Dent. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

The Parenthood CEO Georgie Dent said there needed to be “nationally consistent” child safety laws and expanded definitions of mandatory reporters.

“What we’ve learned from the allegations out of Victoria and other states is that conduct is not being reported, or it’s being reported to one body, but parts of the system aren’t able to talk to each other,” she said.

Teacher Monica Young was jailed for child abuse.

Swim coach Paul Frost was jailed for child abuse.

“When problematic behaviour has been registered there needs to be a follow up. The complaints can’t be dismissed from one centre and then that person can apply for another job somewhere else.”

Under NSW law, mandatory reporters are required to notify authorities if they suspect physical or sexual abuse, neglect, psychological harm, or a child posing danger to themselves or others.

Currently, NSW’s mandatory reporters are in the healthcare, welfare, education, children’s services, residential services, law enforcement, disability services and religion categories.

They include medical practitioners, psychologists, social workers, teachers, childcare workers, refuge workers, police, support workers, and anyone providing religion-based activities.

Dance teacher Benjamin Stokes was jailed for child abuse.

Those categories exclude individuals caring for children in other activities including sports coaches, dance teachers and scout leaders, and bosses who employ children in settings such as retail and fast food.

As a result, there are no penalties in NSW for adults providing extra-curricular activities to or employing children failing to report child safety concerns – or legal incentives to proactively do so.

By contrast, in the Northern Territory, every adult is a mandatory reporter.

In South Australia, employees and volunteers in sporting and recreational organisations, as well as pharmacists, are included as mandatory reporters.

Victoria and the ACT have similar mandatory reporter professions to NSW, but only require them to report concerns about physical and sexual abuse, as opposed to the broader range of reportable concerns in NSW.

Childcare worker Ashley Griffith was jailed for child abuse.

Western Australia also has a similar list of mandatory reporter professions, but only concerns about suspected sexual abuse must be reported.

In Queensland, the list of mandatory reporters is smaller – requiring only teachers, doctors, registered nurses, police officers, and early childhood education professionals to report relevant concerns.

Tasmania has almost identical mandatory reporters and reportable conduct to NSW.

The inconsistencies have prompted calls for a universal approach across Australia.

The Dance Arts Alliance was among groups calling for national action, with vice chair Mike Harrison-Lamond saying governments must act immediately to close loopholes allowing dance teachers with revoked or denied working with children checks to slip through the system.

“It’s abhorrent that someone with a revoked WWCC in one state can move interstate and continue teaching,” Mr Harrison-Lamond said.

“States must work together to create a national framework that prevents this and ensures no child falls through the cracks.”

The Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association has also spent months calling for mandatory working with children checks in retail, fast food and hospitality settings where employees are under 18.

A McKell Institute report commissioned by the SDA found registered sex offenders, and offenders released on bail, are often able to return to jobs where they work alongside children as young as 13, with South Australia the only jurisdiction to have closed this loophole.

The SDA’s Bernie Smith. Picture: NewsWire / John Appleyard

The union is calling on governments to update their definitions of “child-related employment” to include working with children who are workers, and introduce reforms to prevent those on bail for child related offences from working alongside children until the matter is dealt with.

SDA National Vice President Bernie Smith said “now is the time to act”.

“We need more than a nationwide conversation, we need action on the sexual safety of children working alongside adults,” he said.

“A young person’s first experience of work should be safe, and we all have an obligation to act to keep children safe at work from predators.”

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Originally published as Keep Them Safe: calls for mandatory reporting scheme to be expanded