Today the ACT Legislative Assembly is set to vote on a motion brought by independent Member for Kurrajong, Thomas Emerson MLA, calling for the ACT Government to implement a significant package of reforms to improve children’s safety in Canberra’s early childhood education and care centres.

The motion contains 13 measures, including establishing a public register of regulatory enforcement actions related to child safety breaches, exploring options to cap centres’ surplus revenue to ensure sufficient investment back into the workforce, establishing an online portal for verifying Working With Vulnerable People card numbers, and updating the ACT's early childhood strategy with a renewed focus on child safety.

Mr Emerson said the motion was aimed at supporting and incentivising best practice across the sector.

“We need to provide more support for the many professional and diligent early childhood educators and providers who work tirelessly every day to promote the safety, wellbeing and growth of our children,” Mr Emerson said. 

“We also need to clamp down with genuine consequences for providers that aren’t doing the right thing, and to address regulatory gaps that have allowed bad actors to enter the sector.

“While reforms are being discussed and rolled out gradually at a national level, it’s time to pick up the pace and show some real leadership here in the ACT.

“I’m calling on all my Assembly colleagues to get behind these reforms, which have been developed in partnership with local families, educators, providers and sector experts.”

The motion follows Mr Emerson’s push to release thousands of government documents revealing disturbing cases of child abuse, inadequate supervision and regulatory failure in some parts of Canberra’s early childhood sector. 

It is informed by a community survey undertaken by Mr Emerson which found that 98 per cent of respondents strongly agreed or agreed that reform is needed to ensure safety always comes first in the sector.

The full motion is available here, and the full survey results are here.

Survey Summary

332 respondents – 63% are parents or carers and 35% work in the sector 

• 98% strongly agreed or agreed that reform is needed to ensure children’s safety always comes first in the ACT’s early childhood sector
• 97% strongly agreed or agreed that the ACT Government’s early childhood strategy, Set up for Success, should be updated with a renewed focus on child safety
• 96% strongly agreed or agreed that the ACT Government should invest in a live Working With Vulnerable People card number checking portal
• 93% strongly agreed or agreed that greater transparency is needed for families
• 96% strongly agreed or agreed that providers responsible for egregious or repeated child safety breaches should be penalised more readily
• 95% strongly agreed or agreed that a centre’s National Quality Standard rating should be reassessed within six months of (a) receiving a regulatory notice for failing to meet their child safety obligations and (b) changing hands

Motion Summary

The motion includes 13 calls for the ACT Government, including:

• updating the ACT’s early childhood strategy with a focus on safeguarding measures; 
• following every other state and territory in establishing an online portal for verifying WWVP card numbers
• following Queensland, Western Australia, Victoria and South Australia in establishing a public register of compliance enforcement actions to provide transparency for families regarding child safety breaches
• fining ECEC providers for egregious and repeated child safety breaches (the ACT’s early childhood education and care regulator has never issued a single fine)
• exploring options to cap centres’ surplus revenue to ensure sufficient investment back into service quality and the workforce
• introducing mandatory National Quality Standard ratings reassessments within six months of a centre facing regulatory enforcement action, and end the practice of transferring service approvals from one provider to another
• and more

Mr Emerson is calling on the Government to report back to the Assembly on its progress in implementing these measures - and table the updated early childhood strategy - in 12 months, with an interim update in 6 months.

The motion is set to be debated this afternoon, following Question Time.