A shocking review has concluded that a vile Australian paedophile, who abused 65 children, could have been caught on at least five separate occasions if Queensland had implemented a mandatory child safety reporting scheme.
Systemic Failures Allowed Decades of Abuse
Former childcare worker Ashley Paul Griffith, 46, pleaded guilty in November 2024 to a staggering 307 offences. His crimes included rape, maintaining a sexual relationship with a child, and producing child exploitation material. Griffith carried out his predatory acts over two decades while employed at 11 different childcare centres across Queensland, one in New South Wales, and another in Italy.
The Queensland Child Death Review Board spent ten months investigating his offending. Their report identified at least 18 distinct missed opportunities where serious concerns could and should have been flagged to authorities. This systemic failure allowed Griffith to continue his abuse undetected for years.
Missed Red Flags and Internal Cover-Ups
The review uncovered a pattern of warning signs being raised but never properly shared or acted upon. In 2018, there were two separate reports of Griffith kissing young girls in his care. On another occasion, a parent complained he had threatened to smack a child. Further complaints included him grabbing a child by the arm and using a camera inappropriately.
Critically, many of these incidents were "managed internally" by the childcare centres involved, rather than being reported to police or child safety authorities. In one specific 2018 case, Griffith was allegedly seen rubbing a child's shoulders and leaning down to kiss her on the head. The centre handled this internally. In a 2022 incident, he allegedly rubbed his private parts on a three-year-old girl during rest time; the parent told the centre, but police were only notified later.
Griffith was ultimately arrested not because of these reports, but after he uploaded digital images of his crimes. He was sentenced to life in prison with a non-parole period of 27 years.
The Critical Need for a Reportable Conduct Scheme
The report's central conclusion is that a reportable conduct scheme would have legally compelled organisations to report, investigate, and respond to allegations. This would have forced authorities to act on the numerous complaints, potentially preventing or drastically limiting Griffith's offending.
The review criticised the former Queensland Labor government for significant delays in implementing such a scheme, despite it being labelled a "priority for Queensland" back in 2018. Legislation to introduce the scheme was only passed in June 2023, and it is now set to begin on 1 July 2025.
This leaves Queensland lagging far behind other Australian states. New South Wales has had a reportable conduct scheme since 1999, Victoria since 2017, the Australian Capital Territory since 2018, and Western Australia since 2023.
