Independent MLA Emerson MLA wants to reform the ACT early childhood education and care sector. In the Legislative Assembly this week, he will call for:
- Fines for egregious or repeated child safety breaches;
- Update the ACT’s Early Childhood Strategy to focus on children’s safety;
- Land use policies that prevent the unchecked corporatisation of the sector and support community-run centres;
- Close Working With Vulnerable People (WWVP) loopholes; and
- Increase resourcing for the regulator to boost its compliance functions.
“These reforms are uncontroversial — they’re things we should be doing already,” Mr Emerson said.
Mr Emerson said his calls for reform were based on consulting the sector and families for six months.
He also has an online survey, which is open until next Monday, 9 February, and wants the community’s feedback on other ways to reform the system.
Last month, Mr Emerson called on the government to release thousands of redacted government documents detailing serious incidents in the ACT’s early childhood education and care sector which show that loopholes and inadequate regulations have put children at risk.
“Our regulatory system has allowed dodgy operators to put children at risk of serious harm,” Mr Emerson said. “It’s completely unacceptable that children are experiencing abuse and neglect in places responsible for their care.
“The Government has been privy to the issues exposed through this document release, and has chosen to leave those issues unresolved. It’s time to take the steps necessary to actually put children first – without exception. We need to create a system where the best practice seen at our top early learning centres becomes standard practice across the board.
“The ACT’s Early Childhood Strategy only mentions children’s safety once, without promising any tangible action to improve it. Given what we now know about what’s happening in some centres, this strategy needs updating with a renewed focus on child safety.
“Current land use policy settings have allowed major corporate for-profits to cannibalise small community-run centres, with disastrous consequences for children. That needs to change.
“Loopholes in our Working With Vulnerable People scheme need to be closed as a matter of urgency. A system that relies on people with malintent to self-report cannot be expected to protect children from abuse.
“It’s also clear that we need to ramp up the regulator’s compliance functions, which will require appropriate resourcing.”
Mr Emerson thought it alarming that the ACT’s early childhood regulator, Children’s Education and Care Assurance (CECA), had not fined a single operator in the last five years, despite documents revealing significant breaches.
“It’s unsurprising that safety issues have persisted when the regulator has been so light-handed,” Mr Emerson said.
“Caution notices and second chances might be appropriate at times, but particularly egregious incidents and repeated failures must be met with genuine consequences.”
ACT Parents
ACT Parents executive officer Veronica Elliott said many of the issues raised were already the subject of sustained reform work across the sector, and warned against changes driven by media pressure rather than collaboration.
“Keeping children safe in early childhood education and care is not a new conversation. Many of the issues being raised now have been the subject of sustained work across the sector for some time.
“We’ve seen broad agreement across regulators, providers, educators, parent representatives and policy staff about the direction of reform needed. In fact, many of these reforms are already underway or actively being considered.
“Work on strengthening regulatory settings, improving compliance capability, reviewing the WWVP scheme, and embedding child safety more clearly across policy frameworks has been progressing well, including extensive discussions in the middle of last year.
“It is critical that educators and families feel confident to report concerns when they arise. We do not want people holding back because they fear their child’s experience, or a service’s response, will end up in the media. Reporting concerns is essential to keeping children safe, and it must be fully supported.
“What matters now is not restating ideas that already have broad support, but ensuring reforms are implemented carefully, in partnership with the sector, and in a way that genuinely improves safety without creating unintended consequences for services or families.
“We’ve seen strong collaboration between CECA (the regulator), services and the community on improving practice, compliance and culture. That kind of system-wide, cooperative approach is what delivers lasting change. However, there is still work to do.
“Parents want confidence that children are safe, that concerns are taken seriously and acted on appropriately, and that regulation is effective and proportionate. That requires thoughtful reform, adequate resourcing, and a clear focus on outcomes, not just headlines.”
Fiona Carrick MLA
Independent MLA Fiona Carrick said she supported Mr Emerson’s work in making the Early Childhood Education sector safer and more transparent.
“His proposals for reform are evidence-based and should be progressed by the ACT Government without delay,” Ms Carrick said.
She encouraged the government to co-locate early childhood education centres in public primary schools.
ACT Greens
ACT Greens MLA Laura Nuttall said: “The Greens welcome any ideas designed to create an early childhood education and care sector focussed on the wellbeing and safety of children and not on making a profit. We strongly support the principle reviewing the conditions that allow that profit motive to prosper at the expense of the viability of not-for-profit education.
“The Greens have also consistently supported measures to close loopholes in the Working With Vulnerable People scheme, and will continue to call for national coordination to make the systems that keep our children safe.
“Conversations about safety are inextricably linked to the quality of education and the support we provide educators, and that’s something we mustn’t lose sight of when we talk about the future of the sector here in Canberra. We need high-quality, well-performing centres that meet ratios in every room, emphasise the strong protective relationships that educators build with children and value education and professionalism.
“But this won’t happen without a strong regulator. Unfortunately, the government has yet to provide us with a clear answer on how the regulator is funded, despite a question on notice I lodged in annual reports late last year. We call for greater clarity on the funding provided to the regulator. However, in the absence of this information, we’re concerned that the regulator does not have the resourcing it needs to conduct the kinds of high quality, proactive audits that ensure centres are meeting the expectations of the community and the government.”
Ms Nuttall added that she would await further details about the Early Childhood Strategy and potential new fines, but would support any evidence-based and effective measures.
