Advocates demand childcare transparency as Victorian government defies document release order

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The Victorian government has defied an order from state parliament to release documents detailing safety issues in Victorian childcare. Advocates are demanding the government improve transparency in the embattled sector, with Labor accused of putting politics ahead of kids.

Transcript

00:00The request from this parliament to the government was simple.

00:05Release documents detailing childcare safety issues in Victoria.

00:09But Labor has refused.

00:11Oh, that sends a pretty clear message to Victorian parents and families

00:15that this government is more concerned and interested in a political damage control

00:21than they are interested in the care and nurturing of our children

00:26in the early childcare settings.

00:28In the New South Wales parliament, a similar motion yielded damning documents.

00:32This is about exposing the failures in the system which have been ongoing

00:37for a really long time.

00:39The system is in crisis.

00:41I don't think we can have a kind of global confidence in the system

00:45when so much information is hidden.

00:47Confidence in childcare has been shattered in recent weeks,

00:50with regulation and staff oversight emerging as the key issues.

00:54The Greens, who take up these seats in the parliament,

00:57are now demanding the government set up an independent childcare safety watchdog.

01:01Because right now the government is marking their own homework.

01:04Defying parliament's will is an increasing trend.

01:07Failure by executive government to comply with orders by the parliament

01:13for the production of documents shows us that the democratic process

01:18is not working as it should here in Victoria.

01:22The distressing allegations levelled childcare worker Joshua Dale Brown

01:26have thrown a spotlight onto the sector.

01:28And since 70 charges were laid against him,

01:30revelations have painted a picture of a broken system,

01:33where authorities aren't talking to each other and complaints ignored.

01:37The state government is under huge pressure to act,

01:39and it says changes are coming.

01:41But that might just require greater transparency.

01:44The state government is under huge pressure to enter the sector,

01:45and we would have seen a clear reaction.

01:46The state government is under huge pressure to raise the data

01:47and let the state government is under huge pressure to take place.

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