Childcare centres face legal threats over abuse allegations

Childcare centre owners face potential payouts to the victims of an alleged pedophile charged with the rape and sexual assault of dozens of children in daycare centres in Brisbane and Sydney.

A 45-year-old man has been charged over the alleged abuse of children in Brisbane and Sydney daycare centres. Picture: istock.

Childcare centre owners face potential payouts to the victims of an alleged pedophile charged with the rape and sexual assault of dozens of children in 10 daycare centres across Brisbane and one in Sydney over the past 16 years.

National Office for Child Safety’s advisory board co-chair Hetty Johnston on Tuesday said alleged victims or their parents could sue childcare operators for damages. She said children should never be left alone with any adult in a childcare centre.

“(Centres) shouldn’t have solid walls,’’ Ms Johnston said.

“They need to have big windows – there should be no space where a child is not visible in line of sight. No one should be alone with a child, and if they are alone, there should be eyes on them from someone else.’’

A 45-year-old Gold Coast man is scheduled to appear in Brisbane Magistrates Court on August 21 after being charged with 1623 child abuse offences against 91 children – including 136 counts of rape and 110 counts of sexual intercourse with a child under 10 – between 2007 and 2022.

The Australian Federal Police has not named the man or identified the centres.

Ms Johnston said the owners or board members of childcare centres that employed the alleged perpetrator could be sued by parents or by the alleged victims, some of whom are now 18.

“Their (alleged) negligence led to the (alleged) sexual assault of all of these kids,’’ she said.

“Of course they’re responsible – they have a duty of care to keep kids safe. That’s why the parents put them there, to keep them safe while they go to work.

“But they weren’t safe.’’

Ms Johnston, also an adviser to the Queensland Families and Children’s Commission and a former Queenslander of the Year for her child protection advocacy through Bravehearts, blasted the Queensland government for “dragging the chain’’ on mandating tougher requirements on organisations caring for children. She said Queensland had failed to legislate key child protection measures recommended by the Royal Commission into Institutionalised Responses to Child Sexual Abuse six years ago.

“The Queensland government is sitting on its hands,’’ she said. “We need action, and we’re not seeing it – the government is not prioritising the safety of children.’’

Queensland Education Minister Grace Grace on Tuesday said she was “appalled to hear about the abhorrent nature of the charges laid against this individual, and the profound breach of trust represented by the alleged offending’’.

“My thoughts are with the families affected,’’ she said.

“We will continue to assist the AFP with their investigations in any way we can.”

Queensland’s Education Department is working with the Department of Justice and the Attorney-General to implement the royal commission’s recommendation for a “reportable conduct scheme’’ to share cases of alleged staff misconduct across government agencies.

Nationally, anyone working in childcare must have a working with children check – known as a blue card – to check for criminal convictions involving children.

But Ms Johnston said the blue card check did not guarantee a worker was not abusing children, as “only 10 per cent get caught’’.

The National Office for Child Safety, a federal agency set up to implement the royal commission recommendations, issued a “child safety risk identification checklist’’ last month.

Queensland’s building regulations for childcare centres require windows in bathrooms “at heights that enable adult supervision, while maintaining the children’s dignity’’.

Despite the tough regulations, the childcare regulator, the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority, has granted exemptions to 4 per cent of centres nationally, and 7.7 per cent of long daycare centres in Queensland. Another 551 centres have failed to meet the minimum physical environment standard.