Create national register for all care workers, says Productivity Commission
The Productivity Commission is calling for a national screening process for workers not only in the childcare sector, but aged care, veterans affairs and the NDIS as well.
The Productivity Commission is calling on governments to work towards a national screening process for workers not only in the scandal-ridden childcare sector, but aged care, veterans affairs and the NDIS as well.
In response to allegations that hundreds of children may have been abused by one Melbourne worker, Labor moved a bill in parliament last month to cut off funding to any childcare centre that did not meet safety standards.
Education Minister Jason Clare also said the government would seek to create a national database of childcare workers to improve record keeping after it was revealed the accused Melbourne worker had been employed at more than 20 centres between 2017 and 2025.
But in its final report to the Albanese government ahead of the economic roundtable next week, the Productivity Commission recommended the government have a national screening process for workers in all care sectors.
“Governments should establish a single national worker screening clearance that replaces the various existing clearances, such as aged care, police checks, NDIS worker screening checks and working with children/vulnerable people check,” the PC report says.
“A national worker screening clearance would enable workers to apply for a clearance to work across all care sectors and jurisdictions through a single process, with checking automated to the greatest extent possible and supported by effective information sharing between regulators.
“Real-time continuous checking should be undertaken between renewal dates to ensure prompt action if a worker engages in inappropriate behaviour.”
The PC said effective worker screening was needed to “protect the most vulnerable” and standards should be set at a level that enabled that.
“Fragmented systems across care sectors and jurisdictions can mean unsafe workers slip through the cracks unnoticed, undermining the integrity of the screening process and putting care users at risk,” the report says.
Unnecessary and burdensome costs to care workers, most of whom were women, could also be reduced through such measures, the PC argued.
