Male child workers feel ‘excluded’ amid parent requests for children to be cared for by female educators

Childcare centres across NSW are receiving a wave of “special requests” for their children not to be cared for by male educators, excluding them from tasks such as nappy changes, toileting and dressing.

Sydney parents are refusing to let male childcare workers look after their children. Photo: iStock

Sydney parents are refusing to let male childcare workers look after their children in the wake of explosive reports about lack of safety and security checks within the early childhood sector.

The Daily Telegraph is aware of at least three centres where managers have received up to half a dozen emails from parents asking that their children only be cared for by female workers, which includes nappy changes, toileting and dressing.

Last week, a Sydney childcare worker who allegedly abused children and used them to create disgusting content faced Parramatta Local Court after being charged with seven counts of using a child under 14 to make abuse material.

Victorian child care worker Joshua Dale Brown was also charged earlier this month with more than 70 offences relating to allegedly abusing eight children between five months and two years old.

A director from a Western Sydney childcare centre said she had received at least six emails in the past week alone from families making specific requests for female staff to look after their children.

It can also be revealed that parents are asking centre managers how they can submit certain opt-in care waivers to centres, which allows families to choose whether male educators can perform certain tasks with their children.

Several requests have been made to at least three childcare centres. Picture: Getty Images

It’s understood there are no policies or regulations that mandate or prohibit the use of these waivers within the early childhood sector.

The same centre director said male workers in the sector were feeling “excluded” by some families.

“We’ve had six emails from different families in the last week asking for certain special requests such as nappy changes, toileting and other tasks to be done by female staff only,” she said.

A childcare manager, who runs an early learning centre in Sydney’s Lower North Shore, said families had inquired about opt-in care waivers.

“I had a mother email me last week asking how she could submit an opt-in waiver for her child to have their nappy changed from female staff only,” she said.

Several NSW childcare centre managers have also voiced their concerns on social media groups and early childhood forums saying that the issue of male workers in the sector had become “increasingly challenging” as they were balancing parent requests, inclusion and staffing.

Georgie Dent, chief executive of advocacy group The Parenthood, said parents were feeling “fearful” and “stressed” as a result of the serious allegations of abuse within the sector.

“At The Parenthood we support reform to make high quality early childhood education and care and banning men from being early educators is not part of that picture,” she said.

Dr Martyn Mills-Bayne, senior lecturer in early childhood Education at University of South Australia, said opt-in waivers “blurred the line” parental choice and workplace discrimination against male educators.

“When men are excluded from any task that is an inherent requirement of their job description as early childhood educators and teachers, then we run the risk of creating a two-tiered workplace where all men are seen as inherently risky by parents, colleagues and the children they care for,” he said.

Parents are making requests for female only educators. Picture: Getty Images

Acting NSW Education and Early Learning Minister Courtney Houssos said: “While I don’t believe any government would introduce a scheme that actively discriminates against men, it is crucial that the early learning sector takes a risk-based approach that puts children first.”

“We know there have been cases of misconduct by people of both genders, and what is needed is reform of the system to ensure children’s safety and wellbeing is the paramount priority for services,” she said.

Acting NSW Education and Early Learning Minister Courtney Houssos. Picture: Gaye Gerard

Federal Education Minister Jason Clare said: “This is not just about men or women. Whoever works in our child care centres, we’ve got to make sure that the safety of our system and the quality of our system is up to scratch.”

“I’ve been pretty blunt. Governments have to do more and child care centres that aren’t up to scratch have to do more,” he said.

“When Education Ministers met recently, we also agreed to accelerate work already underway to develop nationwide registration of early educators.”

A spokeswoman for the NSW Early Childhood Education and Care Regulatory Authority said: “We share the community’s deep concern about the safety and wellbeing of children in early childhood education and care services, and that is why we are strengthening protective measures and increasing transparency.”

Federal Education Minister Jason Clare said regardless of the gender of carers, we need to do more to make children safe. Picture: Jason Edwards / NewsWire

Lorina Neelakantan, from Aussie Childcare Network, an educational resource website for educators, said she had heard increasing reports from NSW educators and centre leaders about parents submitting waivers that request specific conditions around intimate care.

Anthony Semann, director of Semann & Slattery, a consultancy and research firm in the early and primary education sector, added: “Young male educators are feeling professionally isolated, not knowing how to navigate when they’ve been told they can’t do particular things, being questioned by parents, and not knowing how to respond.”

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Originally published as Male child workers feel ‘excluded’ amid parent requests for children to be cared for by female educators