00:00Look, I think everyone in the sector is absolutely focused on keeping children safe.
00:09Our members, educators across Australia, have been gutted about these revelations.
00:15You know, they get up every day, go to work to keep children safe, to, you know, help
00:22them grow and learn and really live their best lives.
00:25And this has been a really, really tough time for all workers in the sector.
00:30No doubt.
00:31One of the major announcements has been this trial of CCTV cameras to be rolled out at 300 centres.
00:40Is there any information yet on where those centres will be, which ones will be part of
00:46this trial and how that trial will be assessed?
00:50Yeah, look, we'll be working with state and federal government about where those are rolled
00:55out.
00:55And obviously, you know, what we want to do is really assess the efficacy of this CCTV,
01:04but also the safety.
01:05And I think whilst it kind of, you know, could potentially look like something that will keep
01:11children safe, we also have to make sure that that vision, that footage of children from 17,000
01:17centres around Australia, if it's introduced everywhere, is also kept safe from potential
01:23predators.
01:26Is CCTV, and there's also now this ban on the use of mobile phones in centres, are these things
01:33that are not already in place in some areas?
01:36Look, many centres already have CCTV and many centres already have a ban on any device that
01:45can take photo or film children, any personal device being in centres.
01:51So that's not completely unusual.
01:54And look, educators are willing to look at anything we can do to keep children safe.
01:59I think, though, we also want to talk about the role of staffing.
02:02I think it's easy to try and find the silver bullet.
02:06But ultimately, what is going to keep children safe is adequate staffing and staff who are
02:12trained and supported to raise issues when they see them.
02:17Yeah, that does kind of go to something else I wanted to ask you about, which is this issue
02:21of ratios in childcare centres.
02:24Has there been any discussion at these meetings around addressing ratios and staffing in childcare
02:32centres?
02:33Well, look, we heard, Jason Clare, the Minister today, that ASECWA, the national body, will
02:40be tasked with looking at staffing, looking at supervision and staffing, and particularly
02:45looking at the issue of under-the-roof ratios, looking at whether we have adequate staff in centres
02:54to look after our children.
02:56One of the other announcements today has, of course, been this National Register of Educators.
03:01Is this something that the union supports?
03:05And how will that impact the workforce, do you think?
03:10Look, clearly, we've got to do what it takes to keep kids safe.
03:14There is no doubt about that.
03:15And educators are up for anything that keeps children safe.
03:19You know, we've seen with the really disturbing events in Victoria that it took days, even
03:25weeks, for police to track down where the predators were working.
03:31So we need to fix that.
03:32There's no doubt about that.
03:34Educators also want to know that the person they're working alongside has been properly
03:41checked and vetted as well.
03:42When we talk about sort of needing more staff in childcare centres, you know, to address
03:49those ratio issues you were talking about and issues with using agencies and people going
03:54between centres here and there, is there sort of, I guess, a disconnect in that need for
04:02there to be a huge boost to the workforce, but also, you know, for there obviously to need
04:09to be all of these checks and balances done and for the right people to be in these centres?
04:15And look, that's why it's so important that we hear from educators.
04:19We have heard from a lot of experts in the sector, and these are people who have thought
04:23long and hard about issues in the sector.
04:26But it is really important that educators' voices are heard because we want to make sure
04:32that educators stay in the sector, you know, build a career in the sector, because that
04:37is ultimately what is going to keep children safe.
04:40This week, we've also seen the first list of centres at risk of losing their funding
04:46under this new federal legislation that looks at taking funding from centres that don't meet
04:52safety standards.
04:53How has that been received in the sector?
04:58Look, educators want providers to be held to account.
05:01And they want providers to not keep receiving public money to run centres that are substandard.
05:10And so I think, you know, there's really no one thing that's going to fix the sector.
05:15It's a whole lot of small things or a whole lot of quite significant things.
05:20And being able to take away funding from centres that are not keeping children safe is absolutely
05:26important.
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