G8 Education has welcomed the introduction of the Early Childhood Education and Care Bill by Federal Minister for Education, Jason Clare to strengthen child safety regulations in the early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector.

As one of Australia’s largest providers of early learning services, G8 Education remains committed to working collaboratively with all levels of Government to urgently explore further measures that better protect children. G8 Education supports legislative changes that enhance the safety and wellbeing of children in early learning environments.

“We recognise this has been a distressing time for families in Victoria, and across Australia, and we support all steps being undertaken by Federal and State Governments to improve safety across the early childhood education and care sector,” said Mr Pejman Okhovat, CEO and Managing Director of G8 Education.

“G8 Education looks forward to continuing to work with Government to ensure the highest standards of care and protection for every child. This includes engaging with the Department of Education to better understand the details and thresholds included in the draft legislation shared this morning,” he said.

“We’re encouraged to hear of the consideration being given to a national register for working with vulnerable people including, working with children, NDIS and aged care, with a national register of early childhood workers employment history and we will continue to advocate for stronger child safe regulations.”

Our commitment to safety – what we already have in place

At G8 Education, the safety and wellbeing of every child being cared for is the highest priority. It takes child protection and safeguarding extremely seriously and supports measures aimed at improving quality and increasing safety for children in the sector.

The following child safe policies and procedures are already in place in all G8 Education centres, including:

• prohibiting personal devices in rooms in centres;
• delivering thorough and ongoing education and training with centre teams, including in respect of Child Safety and Child Safeguarding;
• ensuring that physical and online environments promote child safety and wellbeing, including investment in cyber security measures;
• ensuring that all required team member reference and background checks are performed, including ensuring that valid Working with Children Checks (WWCC) are in place during employment and that all Early Childhood Teachers hold state specific teacher registration;
• all team members are designated Mandatory Reporters and are legally required to report any disclosure, concern or reasonable suspicion that a child is experiencing harm or if they are at risk of harm; and
• actively encouraging the confidential and anonymous reporting of any concerns related to reportable conduct, in accordance with our Whistleblower Policy.

Our commitment to continuous improvement – additional actions G8 Education is taking

G8 Education is committed to continuous improvement in its policies and processes, as well as improving its practices, and will be taking the following actions:

• Following the trial of CCTV in several of our centres, we will accelerate the rollout of CCTV to all of our centres.
• Giving parents the opportunity to provide preferences on who supports their child’s intimate care routines, including nappy changes and toileting.
• Following the conclusion of the police investigation and criminal proceedings, G8 Education will commission an independent review into the incident to inform further changes and improvements to our child safety procedures within the organisation.

Broader Sector Reforms Needed – what we advocate for

G8 Education is committed to working with all levels of government across Australia to urgently consider what more can be done to better protect children.

G8 Education continues to highlight the need for harmonising policies, regulations, systems and processes across governments and regulators, in support of delivering the National Quality Standard Framework set out by the Australian Government’s Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) and further advocate for:

• A national registry for working with vulnerable people including, working with children, NDIS and aged care.
• National Teachers registration and a national Educators registration.
• A national register of early childhood workers employment history.
• Alignment of all State regulations, prioritising those regarding child safety and protection, ensuring national consistency.
• Delivering on the Productivity Commission’s recommendations, in particular initiatives relating to improving quality and workforce and child safety and protection.