Federal government warns childcare centres to meet safety standards

Failing to meet safety standards will cost childcare centres dearly under urgent changes put forward by Labor.

Childcare centres would have their funding stripped for failing to meet safety standards under urgent changes put forward by Labor designed to incentivise improvement, as the government considers mandatory training, CCTV and a worker register to better protect kids.

The Albanese Government on Wednesday introduced urgent new childcare laws allowing the Commonwealth to cut funds to any operator found to be not up to scratch, and also grant officials permission to conduct random spot checks at centres without a warrant.

Education Minister Jason Clare said a “lot of work” was needed to “rebuild trust in a system parents rely upon every single day” in the wake of a horrific case of alleged abuse at a Melbourne childcare centre.

“The biggest weapon that the Commonwealth has to wield here is the funding that we provide that enables childcare centres to operate,” he said.

The Commonwealth provides about $16 billion a year to the childcare sector Picture: iStock

The Commonwealth provides about $16 billion a year to the sector, which covers about 70 per cent of the cost of running the average childcare centre.

“Childcare centres can’t operate without (federal funding), and … I think must mums and dads will think it’s fair, that if centres are repeatedly not meeting the sort of standards that we set for them, that we should have the power to be able to cut that funding off,” Mr Clare said.

“This is not about shutting centres down. It’s about lifting standards up and giving us the powers to make that happen.”

Coalition shadow cabinet is yet to consider Labor’s specific proposal, but the opposition is expected to broadly support the measures as one part of what is required.

Education Minister Jason Clare. Picture: NewsWire/Martin Ollman

Opposition education spokesman Jonno Duniam. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

Opposition education spokesman Jonno Duniam said Labor needed to “act without delay” to close the gaps in state and territory systems and resolve issues to prevent a repeat of the Victorian case.

“We have a responsibility to do everything we possibly can to deal with the problems facing our childcare sector, but recognise that this legislation will only go so far in resolving the issues facing the sector,” he said.

Mr Clare said when education ministers meet in August, they will be discussing the creation of a national educator register so childcare workers can be tracked between centres and states if they move.

He said states and territories would also be considering the potential role of CCTV in deterring potential criminal activity and also helping police with investigations, as well as the expansion of mandatory child safety training in centres.

Attorney-General Michelle Rowlandenway. Picture: Supplied

Coalition assistant child protection spokeswoman Maria Kovacic. Picture: NewsWire/John Appleyard

Attorney-General Michelle Rowland is also meeting with her counterparts next month to reform the Working With Children Check (WWCC) system.

In a speech to the Senate on Wednesday, Coalition assistant child protection spokeswoman Senator Maria Kovacic said the “checks must be more than a bureaucratic box-ticking exercise”.

“They cannot be treated as a shield that, in practice, allows perpetrators to move undetected between centres and jurisdiction,” she said.

Ms Kovacic also said the government should explore recommendations from the Australian Childhood Foundation to embed mandatory child abuse prevention education in the WWCC process.

Originally published as Federal government warns childcare centres to meet safety standards