00:00Well, I'm very pleased that yesterday at the first meeting of this Parliament of the Standing
00:07Council of Attorneys-General, that the States and Territories agreed to work towards implementation
00:13of a very important element of reform, and that is that where an individual is refused
00:19or has a working with children check revoked in one jurisdiction, then that will apply
00:24to all jurisdictions.
00:25So a band in one, band in all.
00:28And the States and Territories have agreed to work towards implementation of that by
00:32the end of the year, and we recognise how important this is to get it right and to make sure that
00:37we make our community safer for our young people.
00:41You have also admitted that consistency, of course, is key when it comes to working with
00:46children checks.
00:47This is, of course, to ensure the safety in the childcare centres as well, and yet you're
00:52not pursuing a standardised national working with children check.
00:56Why not?
00:59Well, as you explained, we do have States and Territories who are responsible right now for
01:05their own systems.
01:06They are bespoke.
01:07They have different IT capabilities.
01:10In some cases, different ministers and departments and funding streams.
01:14And there's some six million holders of working with children checks right around Australia.
01:18What we are seeking to do is to make that system better and to get those systems talking to
01:23one another.
01:24So we have, for example, real-time checking capability, for example, on areas such as convictions,
01:31but also some other important information that might go to the type of conduct that a state
01:37or territory would need to know about if they're assessing someone for suitability.
01:42So we are not seeking to reinvent the wheel.
01:44We are seeking to make this better in the most expeditious timeframe possible.
01:49Because as I'm sure your viewers will know, this was a recommendation in 2015 coming out
01:55of the Royal Commission.
01:57The successive Commonwealth and state and territory governments have failed our young people and
02:02have failed parents.
02:03And that's why we've seen some of the horrific incidents that we have in recent times.
02:08And will this guarantee that everything will be improved?
02:13I can be confident that it will have an improvement.
02:16This is but one element, however, of an important suite of reforms that we're undertaking.
02:21But we know that nefarious individuals will seek to exploit loopholes or forum shop where
02:25they have the opportunity.
02:27And we're seeking to close those gaps.
02:29Attorney General, you have said that all the jurisdictions have agreed to stronger information
02:36sharing to ensure criminal history is captured and, of course, shared in real time.
02:40And no doubt that will be very helpful.
02:43I just want to point out to you that Joshua Dale Brown worked in 23 centres.
02:49He did not have a police record.
02:50He was not known to police at all.
02:53And now he's been charged with 70 offences.
02:56So how would a national register actually help ensure that the children stay safe in
03:04childcare centres, particularly if staff don't have any police records or complaints made against
03:11them?
03:12No, that is a fair question.
03:15And we do know, unfortunately, that where individuals such as those operate within a
03:21state and have not activated those kinds of red flags, that they unfortunately do go undetected,
03:27as this individual did.
03:29I know that Victoria has its own evaluation and review of that underway now that will be
03:36released imminently.
03:37So we will await to see the findings of that.
03:40But I should be clear to your viewers that what these reforms won't do is it won't prevent
03:46every individual who might seek to exploit those loopholes from being able to do so.
03:53We will unfortunately have situations where people such as the individual that you mentioned
03:58have been operating within a state.
04:00But at the same time, we have been implementing as a government, led by Education Minister Jason
04:06Clare, a series of other reforms that are aimed at precisely the situation that is described
04:12in that instance.
04:13So this is an important tool in terms of reforming working with children checks.
04:17It's not the only one, but it is important that we have the Commonwealth and the states
04:21and territories all working together to achieve the best outcomes here.
04:25Attorney General, no doubt there are many, many parents who are very concerned right now.
04:30I'm very nervous about sending their kids to child care centres.
04:33What would you say to them, to these parents who are concerned that their children may be
04:38at risk and they may not have any confidence that their authorities have their children's
04:44interest at heart because bureaucracy is getting in the way?
04:50No, and I can certainly empathise with those concerns.
04:54We're here in North West Sydney right now, where so many families right around Australia
04:59are getting their children ready for sport and other extracurricular activities, where
05:04they're placed in the care of adults who will have, in many cases, working with children
05:09checks.
05:10But it is important that we improve this system so there is that improved confidence.
05:15And the cases that we have seen are absolutely horrific.
05:18And my heart, as I'm sure all Australians do, go out to those parents.
05:23But we have to be forward-looking to make this better, to have the best opportunities to
05:29make sure that these kind of instances don't happen again.
05:32But I will also end on this.
05:34There are the vast majority of people who hold working with children checks, who work in child
05:39care centres, who work with young people, are good people.
05:42And they should not be ostracised as a group for the sins of individuals such as we've
05:50seen.
05:50But it is incumbent on governments at a state and territory level, but also the Commonwealth,
05:55to all be working together.
05:56And that's exactly what the Albanese government is doing.
05:59Attorney General Michelle Rowland, we thank you so much for taking the time to speak with
06:03us this morning.
06:04Attorney General Michelle Rowland, we thank you so much for joining us today.
06:21Attorney General Michelle Rowland, we thank you for joining us today, this morning.
06:25We thank you for joining us today.
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