Childcare centres are not checking whether their staff are allowed to work with children before hiring, an inquiry has been told.
The revelations of major breakdowns in the safety of 500,000 infants, toddlers and pre-schoolers were exposed on Thursday as working with children’s checks were put under the microscope.
Banned workers were allowed to continue working for years without oversight, the NSW parliamentary inquiry into childcare was told.
Inquiry chair Abigail Boyd said internal government documents showed dozens of workers were banned each year but few children’s checks were cancelled.
In one case, an educator banned in 2019 was approved for a new check in 2021 and continued working up to 2023 before being stopped.
Nearly half of the banned staff reported to the Office of the Children’s Guardian over three years did not even have a check to cancel, Ms Boyd said.
Acting Children’s Guardian Rachael Ward said the childcare regulator was not required to report which staff it has banned, to allow for checks to be cancelled.
“They haven’t broken any law by not sharing that information,” Ms Ward said.
Ms Ward, in the role for five months, was unaware her office had only cancelled 21 checks of the 235 prohibited workers reported between 2021 and 2024.
Meanwhile, police said parents with concerns about staff or incidents involving their children should stop reporting to centre directors because they have a financial incentive to cover up wrongdoing.
One missed case that was highlighted involved a child with a broken leg.
The call for parents to be more proactive in reporting comes as allegations of sexual offences in the childcare sector have increased by almost 50 per cent.
“They’re tipping off the educator or the centre about what’s taken place,” NSW Police Child Abuse Squad commander Linda Howlett said.
There is a “growing safety crisis” in NSW, where more than 400,000 children attended a care service, says nonprofit Body Safety Australia, which educates children on protective behaviours.
It cited a 47 per cent increase in sexual offence notifications to the NSW Office of the Children’s Guardian in 2023-2024.
“Systemic weaknesses have created conditions that can be exploited by individuals seeking to harm children,” the group said in its submission.
“These vulnerabilities are not incidental, they are the result of structural, cultural, and regulatory failures that demand urgent reform.”
Body Safety Australia listed several gaps offenders had taken advantage of, including workforce instability, inadequate training and qualifications, inconsistent oversight and confusing reporting frameworks.
Acting Early Learning Minister Courtney Houssos said on Wednesday providers that consistently fell foul of quality guidelines were on notice and would have their funding cut under government reforms being considered.
Some of the sweeping changes include installing security cameras in centres, publicising safety issues and imposing bigger fines on dodgy operators.
An independent review by former NSW deputy ombudsman Chris Wheeler in June found the childcare regulator’s performance was hampered by national laws and frameworks.
It was also not “sufficiently transparent” about its investigations, and was less open about its compliance work than counterparts in Queensland and Victoria.
NSW’s childcare regulator sits inside the education department.
The inquiry comes amid nationwide scrutiny on the regulation and safety of childcare after shocking reports of children allegedly being sexually abused, left restrained in high chairs for hours and receiving substandard meals.
G8 Education, the operator of a centre where educator Joshua Dale Brown allegedly abused children in his care, said in a submission that its staff were struggling emotionally while working through the fallout of the abuse revelations.
Brown is accused of abusing eight children aged under two at a centre in Melbourne between April 2022 and January 2023.
Lifeline 13 11 14
Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800 (for people aged 5 to 25)
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028
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