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Understanding Children

ECEC must change now, our children can’t wait for another inquiry

Fiona Alston

Jul 02, 2025

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Before continuing to read this piece, readers should be aware that the content of this article may prove distressing, and should consider their own circumstances before continuing to engage with the piece. A list of support services has been provided at the conclusion of the article.

The recent charges laid against a former Melbourne educator are devastating.

The details are unbearable to read and yet they must be confronted. For anyone who works in, leads, or is deeply committed to early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector, this is personal.

As someone who has spent decades in early childhood education, I am heartbroken. I am furious. I am asking what so many others are asking: how did this happen? And more importantly, what must we do now to make sure it never happens again?

It is not enough to say a centre is “child safe.” Too often, we mistake paperwork for protection. We mistake training modules for culture. And we mistake silence for safety.

The truth is confronting, this alleged predator was able to move between more than 20 early learning services undetected. He passed his Working With Children Check.

The response to this must be immediate, visible, and unrelenting.

It must make every predator think twice about stepping near an early learning service. It must empower every child to speak up, every educator to act, and every family to question what doesn’t feel right.

The pivotal role of a Service based Child Safety Officer

The early childhood education and care sector must move urgently toward mandating the appointment of a Child Safety Officer (CSO) in every service.

This is one of the most immediate and impactful reforms the sector can make to strengthen child protection and build a culture of vigilance.

While the current Child Safe Standards only recommend the appointment of a Child Safety Officer “where possible” see Guide to the Child Safe Standards – Standard 7, Office of the Children’s Guardian), this is no longer sufficient. The risks are too high and the role too critical to remain optional.

The sector must now move from recommendation to requirement.

Embedding this role in every service is one of the most powerful steps we can take to strengthen child safety culture and prevent harm before it occurs.

Every service should have at least one appointed, trained, and supported CSO. In larger services and those with multiple age-based levels, there should be multiple CSOs employed at least one for under two-year-olds and one for over two-year-olds to ensure developmentally appropriate oversight across all age groups.

The CSO must not be a symbolic title. It should be a funded, structured role with clear responsibilities, accountability measures and regular professional development. This is not a side task for an existing educator. It is a cornerstone role of any child-safe service.
The CSO should be responsible for:

Recruitment and onboarding: The CSO should sit on interview panels, asking all candidates targeted child safety questions that explore their understanding of the Child Safe Standards, disclosure processes, trauma-informed care and how they actively embed safety in daily practice. They should guide new staff through physical environment risk awareness and outline expectations for ongoing professional behaviour.
Physical safety audits: CSO to each day regularly review the entire service environment for risk points, including blind spots, sleep rooms, nappy change areas, and toileting spaces. Their reports should be documented, reviewed with leadership, and inform immediate action by Approved Providers and landlords.
Staff education and engagement: CSO facilitate reflective conversations with educators about what safety looks like in real-time interactions, both between children and adults, and among adults themselves. Lead case studies, debrief incidents, and support ongoing training in areas such as adult-to-adult grooming awareness and neurodivergent sensitivities.
Child engagement: CSO must work directly with educators and children, ensuring every child knows who to go to if they feel unsafe, understands the steps that will be taken after a disclosure, and to ensure a child feels that their voice will be heard and acted upon. This could be embedded through daily prompts, storytelling, floor books and visual safety cues placed throughout the service.
Family consultation: The CSO to lead structured forums, surveys and informal conversations with families to gather input on safety practices and educate parents and guardians on recognising signs of harm and navigating reporting pathways. This dialogue should be embedded in handbooks, enrolment packs, newsletters and the service website.
Policy oversight and visibility: The CSO ensures all policies related to child protection, privacy, supervision, and incident management are not only up to date, but actively used, embedded, known and reflected in daily practice. They should participate in updating these policies annually and ensure they are visible and not buried in a folder.
External networking and advocacy: CSO attend regular forums and training opportunities, government-funded and delivered by expert bodies, to deepen their skills, share insights across services, and help drive sector-wide improvements.

This role should be a visible signal to all: child safety lives here.

When parents walk into a centre, they should be introduced to the CSO by name.

When prospective staff are interviewed, they should meet the CSO and learn what is expected.

Child Safety Officers are not optional. They are essential.

System-wide reform must follow

Beyond the CSO role, here are additional strategies that must be implemented without delay:

CCTV must be installed in every early learning environment, this is not about surveillance for its own sake, it’s about deterrence, transparency and accountability.
Educator-to-child ratios must be reviewed, strengthened and increased, especially during high-risk routines such as toileting, nappy changes and sleep. These are the times when children are most vulnerable, particularly in environments and age groups where children have limited or no verbal communication.
Ratios must reflect not only developmental needs, but the critical responsibility of ensuring every child is seen, protected and supported at all times, not just when it's convenient. Children deserve eyes on them, not just for education and care, but for their safety.
Child protection training should be delivered by external experts, covering topics on mandatory reporting, grooming behaviours, and disclosure response.
Pre-employment checks must be significantly strengthened. Police checks must accompany Working With Children Checks. Social media activity must be reviewed, and instincts should never be ignored.
Daily safety education with children must be embedded in programming, asking questions, naming safe adults, and understanding the disclosure process.
Services must display safety commitments publicly, on their websites, family handbooks and enrolment materials. This transparency should serve as a deterrent to anyone aiming to bypass child safety measures.
A visible, national record of individual breaches of the Education and Care Services National Regulations and Law must be recorded and transparent in the NQA IT System, making it mandatory for employers to check this register during recruitment. This is not about punishment, it’s about prevention. Prospective educators should be required to prove they are not listed on the register, creating an additional layer of accountability and deterrence for those who pose a risk to children.

This is not an overreaction. This is not hysteria.

This is a call for the sector to rise to protect, to listen, to lead.

If we truly believe children have rights, we must act like it every day, in every room, with every person.

Yes, these measures will require funding. They will require time. But the cost of doing nothing is counted in trauma, in silence, in broken trust and it’s a cost no child should endure.

Child safety can no longer be a sideline. It must be embedded in every decision, every policy, every room. The sector must become the safest place a child can be.

The time to act is now.

If you, or someone you know, is impacted by child sexual abuse or online exploitation, support services are available.

Further information about the original coverage is available here.

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