A New South Wales upper house inquiry has found that systemic weaknesses in the state's childcare sector have allowed predators to work in the industry and abuse children. The final report, published on Wednesday, criticised the proliferation of for-profit services and a lax regulatory approach for enabling such abuse.
The inquiry, chaired by Greens MLC Abigail Boyd, concluded that operators backed by private equity have 'no place' in the sector. It also found that the state's early education regulator had failed to respond appropriately to services with extensive histories of non-compliance and safety incidents. Boyd described the sector as 'in crisis', stating that the system is 'failing too many children, families and educators'.
The inquiry was established in March last year amid growing national concerns, following reporting by ABC's Four Corners and high-profile arrests of childcare workers for alleged child abuse. A Guardian Australia investigation had previously revealed that most childcare workers reported for allegations of child abuse are allowed to continue working due to struggles by police and regulators to block them without criminal convictions.
The report recommended reducing the overall percentage of large for-profit providers in favour of not-for-profit, government-run and community-run services. It found that for-profit long day care services were more than twice as likely to have 'working towards' ratings compared to not-for-profit and public services. The inquiry also recommended that the government look at preventing apprentice and trainee childcare workers from being left unsupervised with children.
Regarding CCTV in childcare centres, the inquiry acknowledged its usefulness as a regulatory and investigative tool but stressed it is 'no substitute for adequate staffing and supervision'. The federal government has already announced a national register for childcare workers, a trial of CCTV, mobile phone bans, and mandatory staff training.
