Stamping out abuse in childcare: Why a National Early Childhood Commission is needed to prevent, not just respond

As the shocking number of allegations of child abuse reported to state and territory regulators continues to be revealed, children’s advocates and policy experts are pleading the Federal Government to establish a national body to prevent abuse before it occurs.

Groups including Thrive by Five, The Parenthood, The Front Project and Royal Far West say the childcare sector has grown rapidly, fueled by federal subsidies, but there hasn’t been a commensurate investment in ensuring quality and safety. 

Thrive by Five’s Penny Dakin said an independent National Early Childhood Commission was needed to ensure quality and safety were baked in from the very start.

“Too many centres are chronically understaffed and are not supporting their educators to look out for, and act on, potentially harmful behaviour. We must address the root problem and ensure that children’s wellbeing is at the centre of how the system is designed,” Ms Dakin said.

“The Federal Government has a responsibility and a unique opportunity to do so at this juncture, given their plans to expand the early childhood education and care system to make it universally affordable and accessible.”

The Parenthood CEO, Georgie Dent, said: “Merely expanding the current system – where the subsidy model too often incentivises the pursuit of profit over children’s wellbeing – is too dangerous.

“Quality and safety need to be baked into the system from the very start. It is not enough to invest in short-term fixes and respond to abuse after it occurs.”

Since ABC’s Four Corners program this week revealed further details of child sexual abuse in early learning centres, further reports have detailed the number of reports received by regulators in NSW, Victoria and Tasmania.

Separately, the Northern Territory Government has called for a national body to oversee quality assessment and ratings for early learning and care centres, following the death of a 22-month-old girl due to unsafe fencing. 

An independent National Early Childhood Commission was a recommendation of the Productivity Commission’s landmark inquiry into early childhood education and care.

The Front Project CEO, Dr Caroline Croser-Barlow, said it would guide the expansion of the system in a nationally coordinated way that made children’s wellbeing the guiding priority.

“These are really big and complex reforms. They are possible, and the evidence to guide us is there, but someone needs to be in charge. This needs to be someone’s responsibility.”

Dr Croser-Barlow clarified that a National Early Childhood Commission would be different to a Royal Commission in that it would ideally be a permanent body.

“Royal Commissions investigate problems and propose solutions. In this case, that work has already been done by countless inquiries. The Prime Minister is right to say that's not what we need here.

“A National Early Childhood Commission would ideally be a permanent body charged with implementing the solutions and leading the early childhood education and care system into the future. The government has not ruled this out, and we implore them: now is the time.” 

Royal Far West CEO Jacqueline Emery said early childhood education and care could be a lifeline for children and families in rural and remote communities in particular, and expanded access needed to come with a greater focus on safety.

“Child safety must never be an afterthought, it is the foundation upon which all learning and development is built,” Ms Emery said. 

“We need a National Early Childhood Commission to ensure consistent oversight across Australia – to proactively design a system that nurtures all children and keep them safe – rather than responding to atrocities and system failures after the fact.”