Childcare workers banned in one Australian state will be prevented from “gaming the system” by moving to another jurisdiction, under proposed new laws.
The “banned in one, banned in all” legislation means states and territories will now share information if a person’s application to work with children has been rejected due to criminal history or workplace misconduct.
Attorney-General Michelle Rowland said the reform was needed as the current system has “loopholes” that can be exploited.
The new laws – hoped to start at the end of the year – are part of wider safety reforms in the childcare sector after a spate of sexual and physical abuse cases have shocked the country .
The proposed changes to Australia’s working with children checks come almost a decade after a landmark royal commission into child sex abuse recommended the system be nationalised.
Currently, each state and territory completes what is essentially a criminal history check required for those who work alongside children, but don’t share the information with each other. Some jurisdictions also consider allegations of workplace misconduct.
Rowland said there are no plans to nationalise the checks as states and territories will continue to manage their own systems, but that there will be more information sharing under a national “checking capability”.
“If you’re banned from a working with children check in one state and territory, it means that you can’t then go and apply for one somewhere else in Australia,” she said.
Rowland chaired a meeting of attorneys-general from across the country on Friday, and said representatives from all states and territories had committed to “pull out all stops” to enable stronger, “near real time” information sharing.
Rowland blamed complex IT systems in different jurisdictions – as well as failings by successive governments – on the years-long delay for such a move.
Childcare costs are notoriously high in Australia, with OECD data for 2020 and 2021 showing that those with two children under the age of three in full-time day care spent about 67% of their average gross income on it.
Federal and state governments have poured millions of dollars into the sector in recent years, including funding to guarantee three days of childcare for low and middle-income families.
The federal government also announced on Friday that 30 childcare centres have been told they must lift their standards or risk losing their government funding, under new laws introduced last month.
In recent months a series of high-profile cases of alleged sexual and physical abuse have been reported at childcare centres across Australia.
Last month, police revealed a Melbourne childcare worker, Joshua Dale Brown, had been arrested and charged with 70 offences – including child rape – against eight babies.
The case also prompted authorities to recommend infectious diseases testing, as a precaution, for 2,000 children from more than two dozen locations where Mr Brown had worked.
