During the first sitting fortnight of the 48th Parliament of Australia, the Albanese Labor Government introduced legislation to lift child safety in early education and care services.
This legislation will give the Commonwealth Government power to cut off funding to child care centres that don’t meet the National Quality Standard when it comes to safety and quality, where there’s a breach of the law, or where centres are acting in a way that puts the safety of children at risk.
The legislation will also allow Commonwealth officers to perform spot-checks without warning to detect fraud and non-compliance across the sector.
Governments, State and Federal, need to do more to ensure the safety of children. These new powers are part of that.
They will be used in close collaboration with states and territories regulating quality and safety under the National Quality Framework.
This is just one of a number of steps the Albanese Labor Government is taking with the states and territories to protect children in early education and care.
Speeding up work on a nationwide register of early educators will be on the agenda at the Education Ministers’ Meeting in August, as well as the role of CCTV in centres and mandatory child safety training for educators.
The Attorney-General has also put reform of Working with Children Checks as the first item on the agenda for the Standing Council of Attorneys-General meeting next month.
This legislation builds on the work the Albanese Labor Government and state and territory governments have already done implementing the recommendations of the Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority’s Child Safety Review.
These include mandatory 24 hour reporting of any allegations, complaints or incidents of physical or sexual abuse, and restricting the use of personal mobile phones in centres.
The highest priority of the Albanese Labor Government is strengthening safety in early education and care to make sure our kids are safe.
Quotes attributable to Minister for Education Jason Clare:
“This legislation is not about shutting centres down, it’s about raising standards up.
“This is about making sure the safety and quality in child care centres are what parents expect, and children deserve.
“We are determined to do what needs to be done to rebuild confidence in a system that parents need to have confidence in.
“It’s a system that more than a million mums and dads rely on to care for and educate the most important people in their world – their children.”
Quotes attributable to Federal Member for Robertson, Dr Gordon Reid MP:
“I welcome the powers that the Federal Government will have to address child care centres that are not meeting standards and putting our youngest Australians at risk of harm.
“As a member of the government, I will continue to support action to improve child care on the Central Coast and across the nation”, Dr Reid said.
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