Parents might be put out, but leaders say closing childcare centres early on a handful of nights each year will help keep kids safe.
In the latest response to recent scandals that have plagued the sector, early education centres will be able to close at 5pm five times a year for mandatory training.
The suite of reforms being rolled out include cutting funding to centres lacking safety standards, a mobile phone ban for staff, a CCTV trial and a national register of childcare workers.
Education Minister Jason Clare said the mandatory safety training might be the most important measure of all.
“It’s the workers in our centres who are our best actor in keeping our kids safe,” he said on Sunday.
“This is going to cause an inconvenience for some mums and dads across the country, I get that.
“But I hope parents agree with me that there is nothing more important than keeping their kids safe, and doing this training in this way will make it done properly.”
The measure will will cost the federal government $40 million to implement.
Nationals Leader David Littleproud agreed trading a couple of early finishes for the safety of children was worth it.
“The inconvenience is an investment in the safety of our kids – and you can’t put a price on that,” he told Nine’s Weekend Today.
“I get the inconvenience, but if it adds value and protects our kids, then we just have to accept it for however long it takes. That’s our responsibility too.”
The training will help educators and staff spot behaviour that should be reported and give them confidence to report it in a timely manner, Early Childhood Education Minister Jess Walsh said.
The Australian Childcare Alliance welcomed the move, but emphasised reforms should not add to the workload of staff.
“It is essential that implementation is accompanied by practical funding support, reasonable notice periods for families, and flexibility for services to meet these obligations without destabilising operations,” ACA president Paul Mondo said.
Centres will give parents plenty of notice of the early closing times to minimise inconvenience.
Mandatory child safety training was one measure Australia’s education ministers agreed to in the wake of sickening allegations levelled against Melbourne childcare worker Joshua Dale Brown.
Brown, who was known to have worked at 24 facilities between 2017 and 2025, was charged with sexually abusing eight children under the age of two.
Childcare workers will also receive the final increment of a 15 per cent wage increase on Monday, a move Mr Clare said had reduced vacancy rates and increased job applications.
Other measures being rolled out include a CCTV trial in up to 300 centres along with testing on a national register of childcare workers.
National monitoring of working with children checks is also on the agenda.
At present, accused offenders can potentially keep their check for years until it needs to be renewed.
All jurisdictions have agreed to sign up to a “national continuous checking capability”, which will allow the use of state and territory police databases to monitor the criminal histories of check-holders in “near real time”.
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