‘Kindy cops’ sent in to police childcare as top operator installs CCTV cameras

Commonwealth ‘kindy cops’ will carry out snap inspections of childcare centres, as the nation’s biggest childcare chain installs CCTV cameras across hundreds of daycare centres.

Federal government ‘kindy cops’ will be given new powers to check childcare centres suspected of fraud, as part of a crackdown on child safety.

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Commonwealth “kindy cops’’ will carry out snap inspections of childcare centres, as the nation’s biggest childcare chain installs CCTV cameras across hundreds of daycare centres.

New powers of entry for fraud officers to conduct unannounced spot checks of daycare centres will be part of childcare safety legislation to be introduced to federal parliament within weeks.

Federal Education Minister Jason Clare said it was “sickening and serious’’ that 1200 young children had to be tested for STDs this week after a Melbourne childcare worker was charged with allegedly sexually abusing eight babies and toddlers in his care. He said governments had taken “too bloody long’’ to fix child-safety risks in daycare centres and announced new laws to punish centres that “put profit over quality and put child safety at risk’’.

“The big weapon that the federal government has to wield here is the funding that we provide to childcare centres,’’ Mr Clare said.

“It equates to about 70 per cent of the funding that runs a centre, and if they’re not keeping our kids safe then we need to cut off their funding.’’

The change means fraud teams will no longer require a warrant, or be accompanied by Australian Federal Police, to check if centres are fraudulently claiming to care for “ghost” children to pocket taxpayer subsidies.

The legislation will give the federal Education Department the power to cut childcare subsidies to centres with “egregious and continued breaches’’ of child safety and quality rules.

Childcare operators that persistently fail to meet minimum standards for childcare will be banned from opening centres.

Melbourne childcare worker Joshua Dale Brown, 26, has been charged over the alleged sexual abuse of eight infants.

Mr Clare said federal, state and territory governments must bring in a national register of childcare workers, and “fix’’ working-with-children checks to provide live notifications of criminal convictions. “That’s work that’s being led by attorneys-general, but it needs to be sped up,’’ he told the Seven Network.

“It’s a complicated system but people aren’t interested in bloody excuses, they’re interested in action. The implementation of those reforms has taken too bloody long, and they need to be accelerated.’’

Mr Clare hosed down suggestions that men be banned from working in childcare, noting that women had also abused and ­neglected children in daycare.

Australia’s largest childcare chain, not-for-profit Goodstart Early Learning, has revealed it is installing CCTV cameras across all 653 centres to “enhance safety and security, with strict privacy controls in place’’.

“CCTV has a role to play but it will never be a replacement for ­active supervision of every child by professional educators,’’ Goodstart said in a statement.

“Governments will have to consider how they fund a national program to support the rollout of CCTV in early learning centres as the costs are extremely high, in terms of installation costs, secure storage of data and ongoing monitoring or review.’’

Goodstart banned mobile phones from its centres in March this year, well ahead of national ban to start in September.

The company also employs more staff than the mandated ratio of one carer for every four ­babies in nursery rooms. “Our educators are also expected to work closely together to ensure they are in line of sight or in hearing of each other,’’ Goodstart said.

It said staff were not allowed to be alone with a child “if there is no professional reason for doing so’’, and they should avoid taking children to offices or staffrooms out of the sight of colleagues.

Staff do not put posters over windows that hinder line of sight.

Goodstart said: “We are very supportive of the proposed introduction of a national working-with-children check, improved reporting and information sharing between government agencies and increased funding for ­regulators.”

Early Childhood Australia chief executive Samantha Page called for a better working-with-children check, with instant notification of convictions.

“We can’t wait for people to commit a crime before they are flagged,’’ she said.

Ms Page said staff shortages had led some centres to “cut ­corners’’ in quality and safe care.

“What we are seeing in the we’ve got workforce shortages, we’ve got corner cutting, we’ve got people left alone with children while someone else takes a break,’’ she told the ABC.

“Part of the problem is a revolving door of educators coming into the centre, and the use of agency staff to fill gaps in the roster. There shouldn’t be a space in a centre where a child can be abused.’’

Ms Page said centres must ­ensure “line of sight’’ so other staff can keep an eye on any children alone with a colleague, and ensure there are no “nooks and crannies’’ where children cannot be seen.

“We cannot be vigilant enough,’’ she said.

Ms Page called for more funding of state childcare regulators, warning that they had failed to enforce safety and quality standards

“Services have not been rated and assessed as frequently as they need to be,’’ she said.

Ms Page said that ideally, centres should employ one carer for every three babies.

“I understand how difficult that is to do … it would exacerbate workforce shortages,’’ she said.

Ms Page ruled out calls by the Independent Collective of Survivors to ban men from working in childcare. “They’re important role models and the diversity of gender is important,” she said.