Joint statement from not-for-profit early childhood education and care providers in response to ABC Four Corners

Early learning services exist to uphold children’s rights and honour their childhood. Recent ABC reporting has laid bare failures that have enabled egregious breaches of trust and safety in some of those services. 

• Embedding a Culture of Vigilance: Child safety is at the heart of every decision, policy, and practice in our services. We are committed to fostering environments where vigilance is second nature and where every adult understands their role in protecting children.
• Strong Governance and Accountability: Our organisations embed robust, transparent governance frameworks that ensure accountability at every level. We invest in and demand rigorous recruitment, induction, and supervision processes, and zero-tolerance of misconduct.
• Ongoing Professional Development: We make substantial investments in continuous professional learning to ensure our educators and staff are equipped to recognise, prevent, and respond to signs of grooming and abuse. This includes rigorous and ongoing mandatory child protection training.
• A Culture of Speaking Up: We are committed to creating psychologically safe workplaces where staff feel empowered and supported to raise concerns without fear of reprisal. We each provide strong protections for whistleblowers and mandatory reporters, and support efforts for sector-wide protections.
• Listening to Children: We recognise that children are often the first to disclose harm. We train and resource our staff to listen carefully and act swiftly and appropriately on any concerns raised by children in our care.
• Sector-Wide Reform: We support the government in their stewardship role to provide oversight, drive continuous improvement, and ensure that child safety is never compromised.