Jason Clare (Blaxland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Education) Share this | Hansard source

Can I thank my good friend the member for Bendigo for her question. When I last briefed the parliament on this we had just passed legislation to cut off funding to childcare centres that don't meet safety standards. I can advise the House that we have now used those powers. Thirty-seven centres have now been placed on notice. And there is more to come.

I can also advise the House that we have taken the next steps that we need to take. On Friday, education ministers met and agreed to establish a national educator register, national mandatory child safety training for all workers in our centres, a national trial of CCTV in up to 300 centres across the country, a ban on the use of personal mobile phones in centres, more information for parents on the conditions and the actions of regulators at the centres where their children go, and more inspections and more spot checks.

Predators prey on vulnerable children, and they prey on vulnerable systems—and there are vulnerabilities in the system. These predators use phones as part of committing their crimes. That's why we have got to get them out of centres. They distract and they groom other staff members, and that's why staff training is important, to know what to look out for and what to do. They often move from centre to centre to centre, and that's why the national educator register is important.

To make all of this happen, the Australian government is investing an extra $189 million in these reforms. And the states are stepping up as well. We've all got to step up: the Australian government, states and territories, the people that run these centres, too. This is a good example of Labor and Liberal governments working together. And can I thank the federal opposition as well for their support for these measures.

What we agreed to on Friday aren't the only things that we need to do, but they are what we have to do if we're going to build back confidence in a system that mums and dads across the country have got to have confidence in. The truth is that this work will never end. There will always be bad people looking for weaknesses in the system. But the actions that we took last week are an important next step in helping to keep our children safe.

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