Childcare workers banned in one state will not be able to work anywhere else in Australia under “ambitious” reforms to protect children.
Attorney-General Michelle Rowland said on Friday that states had agreed to the way forward after a series of horrific abuse cases in childcare centres this year.
She said the “banned in one, banned in all” legislation would stop dodgy childcare workers from slipping through loopholes in the system.
The changes would be rushed through by the end of the year, rather than in 12 months as originally flagged.
Rowland said attorneys-general from the states and territories had met and agreed to “pull out all stops”.
“I’m extremely pleased that we have agreed to accelerate delivery of this reform with states and territories agreeing to work towards implementation by the end of this year,” said Rowland.
“There is a firm commitment from all states and territories to pull out all stops and we are working together as a team.”
Rowland said reform was needed because loopholes existed that enabled individuals to “game the system and to exploit those loopholes to their advantage”.
“We recognise that this is an area of the highest priority,” she said.
“But it also means that the complexities of the IT systems, the legislative frameworks and the ministerial responsibilities have their own challenges.
“So we have for some time been working through these, and I am pleased that today, we were able to land on an agreement to work towards the end of this year for delivery.”
Meanwhile, 30 childcare centres across Australia have been issued compliance notices and given six months to get up to standard.
The list would be made public after centres notified parents that they were on the government’s hit list.
The centres could lose funding if they failed to improve.
Rowland said children in childcare had been let down by successive governments, but the states would work together now to prevent abuse from happening in the future.
“It should never have happened. But we know that these perpetrators are smart, they will look at any ways to be able to game the season.
“That is why we’re taking a comprehensive approach working as a team to make sure that we get this done.”
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