New laws set to give officers power to conduct random spot checks of childcare centres

Education Minister Jason Clare has admitted he failed to act fast enough on childcare reforms but pledged to implement sweeping changes in the wake of an alleged abuse scandal, including giving officers power to conduct random spot checks and defunding failing centres.

The promised changes come after two men, one a childcare worker, were hit with dozens of charges as part of a major investigation in Victoria that has cast a spotlight on how early childhood education centres operate years after a 2017 royal commission recommended sweeping reforms.

Clare said that the penalties centres face for failing to meet standards were insufficient. “Any right-minded person that finds out a maximum penalty for an individual is $9,000, a centre or provider, $45,000, [would say] that’s probably not enough,” he said on 7.30.

Education Minister Jason Clare said he was bringing together recommendations.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

“The question is how do you make sure you hit those quality and safety standards?” Clare said. “What do businesses in this sector listen to? Money. If you cut off the funding, then you end up closing down the centre.”

Federal Labor will introduce the laws when federal parliament returns later this month. Government sources told this masthead another part of the law would strengthen powers for Commonwealth officers to make unannounced visits to childcare-subsidy-approved services.

Currently, a warrant is required for officers to conduct a check on a centre if they do not have approval from a state authority. Childcare regulation spans state and federal jurisdictions, which has hampered reform.

Clare said the earliest these changes, which are also likely to include a national system of checks for people working with children, could be implemented would be September. He admitted he and other ministers had failed to bring the changes in quickly enough.

“Ministers haven’t been doing enough, fast enough. Including me. I take my fair share of responsibility for it,” he said.

“We’ve got to do everything that we possibly can to make sure our children are safe. That’s why people are talking now about CCTV. Or about an educator register. Improving working with children checks. None of that is a silver bullet,” he said.

The latest government data, from 2023-24, showed 1599 centres, or about 10 per cent, are classed as “working towards” meeting regulator standards. The Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority, which assesses centres against national quality standards, found 68 per cent of centres met standards and 22 per cent exceeded them.

The authority, which has declined interview requests, says a centre being classed as “working towards” meeting standards means it “provides a safe education and care program, but there are one or more areas identified for improvement”.

The criteria to pass quality standards include a certain level in education programs, children’s health and safety, physical environments, staffing arrangements, relationships with children, relationships with families and communities, and leadership.

Creative Gardens Point Cook, one of the centres where abuse is alleged to have occurred, was rated by the regulator as meeting national standards.

Samantha Page, the chief executive of Early Childhood Australia, said providers needed to meet minimum standards. “You must be … putting children’s safety and wellbeing first,” she said.

“Regulatory authorities have been underresourced, services have not been rated and assessed as frequently as they should be, there is perhaps not as quick a response to concerns and risks being raised as they needs to be,” Page said.

Page said there was widespread agreement that the sector required a national register for staff, but that speed was the priority.

“We just can’t afford to take any more time to think about how that might work, we need to get on with it,” she told ABC’s Afternoon Briefing.

Early education and care advocate Lisa Bryant told The Morning Edition podcast on Thursday that a big problem with the sector’s quality is high staff turnover, casualisation and private owners being driven by profit over child safety.

“More and more, our centres are getting bigger and bigger … the largest centres are up to 400 places. So when you have 400 children in a centre, it’s not the same intimate environment where everyone knows each other and knows what’s happening in the environment,” she said.

“You have people coming and going, a lot more casual staff coming and going. These places aren’t places that are fun to work, and so their turnover is a lot higher. People churn through them. They rely on casual workforces.”

The Albanese government is investing billions in the childcare sector to expand access to parents, which was a major part of the prime minister’s pitch throughout this year’s election.

Under questioning from 7.30 host Sarah Ferguson, Clare denied the government had expanded the sector too quickly.

“There’s 1.5 million children in the sector right now... That’s good for parents because it’s an essential service. It’s good to have more children in early education and care because it gets them ready for school,” he said.

Housing Minister Clare O’Neil told the ABC earlier that there was no easy solution to the problem of alleged predators in childcare.

“I think everyone would agree we need to have a good look at that process. But I also say that’s not a silver bullet,” she told ABC News Breakfast.

“A lot of these predators would pass a working with children check, they don’t have anything in their history that indicates as a problem.”

Shadow attorney-general Julian Leeser did not say why the Coalition had not implemented certain recommendations from the 2017 royal commission while in government, but pledged to support any legislation the government presented to further protect children.

“[The] Coalition stand ready to assist the government in whatever measures that they need to take to ensure that we protect children and we protect families who are sending their children to childcare centres, and to ensure the proper processes are in place,” he told ABC Radio National.

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