Fears of defamation, reputational harm muffle childcare abuse concerns

18 hours ago 3

Risk to reputation, defamation fears, and a “complex and crowded” regulatory landscape have stifled early childcare services’ concerns about potential sexual abuse by staff, a government-commissioned review has found.

Commissioned in December last year, the review into Queensland’s response to child sexual abuse found some staff members weren’t correctly trained to identify suspicious behaviour, and privacy concerns “minimised” early warning signs.

Queensland Minister for Child Safety Amanda Camm said any recommendations delivered by the review would be prioritised, but she would move to patch holes in the system immediately.

Child Safety Minister Amanda Camm said the state would not wait for a review before strengthening its child safety system.

Child Safety Minister Amanda Camm said the state would not wait for a review before strengthening its child safety system.Credit: Queensland government

“When you’re entrusting your child to be educated, they are little, they are vulnerable, [and] we expect they are getting the highest standard in care and education, and we as a government are committed to that,” she said.

“Queensland parents deserve the right for their children to go to childcare and be safe.”

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The review also covered the Blue Card system, which it found did not screen for concerning behaviour that did not lead to a conviction.

It also found about 20 per cent of Queenslanders hold a Blue Card, enabling them to work with children.

“The attorney-general is working with other state attorneys to make sure … we have the checks and balances and the legislative frameworks to be able to hold those people to account if they have perpetrated [against a child],” Camm said.

She said the state had “brought a comprehensive plan in child safety to the election”, having ordered several reviews and system overhauls “to ensure that children are safe” since coming into power last year.

The review into Queensland’s response to child sexual abuse is set to deliver its final report before the end of the year, and has been based on the case of one of Australia’s worst paedophiles, convicted abuser Ashley Paul Griffith.

In November last year, Griffith pleaded guilty to abusing girls while working at five Queensland childcare centres from 2003 to 2022.

He was convicted of more than 300 offences, including rape and creating child exploitation content, committed against almost 70 victims, most of whom were aged between three and five at the time.

In January, Griffith launched an appeal on his life sentence on the grounds that it was manifestly excessive.

The review has received more than 17,000 pages of material and 36 hours of video footage and audio recordings from investigations into Griffith’s case.

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Its June update coincided with warnings from Victorian police on Tuesday that more than 1200 children might require testing for sexually transmitted infections after childcare worker Joshua Dale Brown was charged with child abuse.

Brown, a 26-year-old man from the Geelong suburb of Point Cook, stands accused of abusing children aged between five months and two years at the Creative Garden Early Learning Centre in Point Cook between April 2022 and January 2023.

On Wednesday, Victorian police charged another man, Michael Simon Wilson, who was known to Brown but not linked to any childcare centres, with dozens of sex crimes.

With AAP

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