Australia’s National Children’s Commissioner, Anne Hollonds, has urged national leadership on reforms to keep children safe after the alleged sexual abuse of numerous children by a childcare worker in Victoria.
‘This is not the first time and it won’t be the last, unless governments across the federation take urgent action to implement the evidence-based recommendations from numerous inquiries over past decades that will help keep our children safe,’ Commissioner Hollonds said.
Arguing that child safety must be elevated to the top tier of government priorities, she said: ‘National cabinet must make ‘child safety and wellbeing’ a key priority in the same way that ‘women and women’s safety’ is a key priority. Currently the word ‘children’ is entirely missing from the list of priorities for National Cabinet,’ Commissioner Hollonds said. ‘We also need a Cabinet Minister for Children.’
Hollonds said the Victorian case has resonated widely because potentially thousands of vulnerable babies and young children and their families are affected. She called for tighter industry settings: ‘The childcare industry requires much stronger regulation, independent monitoring and oversight, and comprehensive enforceable child safeguarding measures. These have been detailed in numerous reports from inquiries that are sitting on a shelf.’
‘Child safety comes with a cost and regulatory burden on providers and governments. But we can no longer risk the safety of our children because of the cost,’ Commissioner Hollonds added. She said the federation structure has allowed a lack of accountability for action to persist.
Hollonds welcomed last Friday’s state and territory education ministers’ communique, which stated: ‘Ministers agreed that the safety and protection of children attending Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) is the highest priority for all governments.’ But she pressed for immediate steps to prevent harm, saying ‘we need urgent action on prevention, to protect children from harm before it occurs.’
‘We have heard a lot about ‘cheaper’ childcare. The Australian public, especially our youngest citizens, now need to see urgent action on ‘safer’ childcare,’ Commissioner Hollonds said.
