Childcare provider warns of unexpected consequences of new rules

ABC NEWS (Australia)

A not-for-profit childcare provider has warned any new safety regulations in the sector could have unintended consequences. The head of 'Goodstart' has told a New South Wales parliamentary inquiry while she supports enhanced safety measures some of the new rules could unnecessarily scare-off staff and parents.

Transcript

00:00This is the fourth parliamentary hearing into the child care sector but this one has particular

00:06significance because it follows last night's Four Corners investigation which found the

00:11sector is vulnerable as a target for pedophiles.

00:14One of the providers we've been hearing from, Good Start, has had separate issues of its

00:18own.

00:19Earlier this year the ABC revealed the organisation had to sack a centre director in Victoria

00:25over their failure to report multiple allegations of inappropriate sexual behaviour.

00:31Its CEO, Dr Ros Baxter, has told the committee that child protection is a top priority.

00:37We share the horror of the community at the instances of harm to children that we have

00:41seen in the media reporting last night and over recent months.

00:45The enquiries examining what more can be done to protect children from harm in childcare,

00:51the head of KU Children's Services says the so-called four eyes policy is an effective

00:57safeguard.

00:58Always having two staff in line of sight of each other is incredibly important.

01:03So if for instance the worst case scenario is you do have a pedophile come into your centre

01:10unknowingly, there's never any opportunity for them to be left alone with children.

01:17Major safety reforms are about to come into force in NSW, including big increases in fines

01:23and clearer and more transparent reporting so that parents are informed when incidents

01:28occur at their child centre.

01:30But Good Start has warned that unless the government's careful, minor breaches could cause unnecessary

01:35alarm with parents and scare off staff.

01:39If you have a person who is now facing triple the personal fines that they were a month ago,

01:46and they are already a low paid worker in our community, how are you going to keep them

01:50in our services moving forward unless we really think about how some of those provisions get

01:55implemented?

01:56And staffing is a key theme that keeps coming up during this enquiry.

02:00The hearing's been told that increasing staff education and reducing staff churn are some

02:05of the best ways to ensure child safety.

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