Albanese government will shut down sub-standard childcare operators, minister vows

The Guardian

28-05-2025

Labor's new childcare minister says she will drive shonky and dangerous operators out of the multi-billion dollar industry, warning providers that place profit above safety will be shut down.
In her first major interview since joining the frontbench, Victorian senator Jess Walsh told Guardian Australia the federal government was slowly moving towards a universal childcare system in Australia, something prime minister Anthony Albanese wants as part of his 'legacy'.
Childcare has been beset by safety and standards failures, including serious and violent incidents at centres, recently investigated by the ABC.
'Those images and stories are really hard to watch and hard to read about, and it is a top priority for the commonwealth and the states and the quality authority to work together, shoulder to shoulder,' Walsh said.
Walsh said she was working with states and territories to enforce safety standards, and that reforms like restricting mobile phone use by early childhood educators, which were put in place last year, was one 'lever' being used to improve safety in the sector.
'We will use new commonwealth levers to target those operators that put profit above child safety… They should not be operating in the sector,' she said.
'And we will make sure that commonwealth funding does not support their expansion and that we're able to restrict their access to the childcare subsidy, because commonwealth shouldn't be subsidising those operators that have no place in the sector.'
The productivity commission and advocates have called for a national commission to advise and monitor progress towards universal early education, and better coordinate responsibility between states, territories and the commonwealth. Walsh would not commit to that and said quality in the sector had increased overall.
Carolyn Croser-Barlow, chief executive of early childhood thinktank The Front Project, said it 'isn't enough' to work with the states, territories and regulator to stop the safety scandals.
'We all agree that there needs to be more than just working together. A [national] commission would be a good way of formalising who is responsible for what and make sure that we're sharing information between different levels of government,' she said.
Croser-Barlow, a former senior public servant who assisted former prime minister Julia Gillard in the South Australian royal commission into early childhood education, said the commonwealth – until recently – had been solely focused on bringing down costs for families, and providing incentives for providers to expand their services, while the states and territories have been charged with enforcing compliance in the sector.
She said Walsh had a 'great opportunity' to reset the division of responsibilities with states and territories.
'The commonwealth, until recently, hasn't really been looking at whether or not people opening new services have a great track record of quality, and it's great to hear they are thinking about starting to look at that now. Similarly, regulators have really struggled to keep pace with the growth in the sector in South Australia.'
Along with a commission, Croser-Barlow said a formal 'vision' for universal childcare would provide a better framework for all levels of government.
A draft vision was published by the national cabinet in March 2023, with a promise to consult with stakeholders before publishing a final version, but that work has not been finished.
Croser-Barlow says that work is also at the centre of improving and ensuring safety and quality standards are met.
'At the moment there is no division of responsibilities between the states and the territories and commonwealth where someone is responsible for delivering a market that is consistently high quality and safe,' she said.
'The fact that that [vision] hasn't been agreed to shows how difficult it is to agree who is responsible for what and how much easier it is to not have that, because when things are wrong you're in a position to be able to say, well that's the other side's problem and we've seen a bit of that [recently].'
In February, Labor passed legislation for a three day childcare guarantee, in effect, removing the activity test which had been a barrier for families. It followed a promise for 15% pay rises for childcare educators, the final 5% increase is due to come into effect in December.
Walsh said those are steps towards a universal system.
'We know that the prime minister has a vision of universal early education … They're some of the pillars towards building that universal early education system,' she said.
Walsh surprised some within Labor ranks, ascending to the ministry this term, straight from the backbench.
A member of the Victorian left faction, Walsh was secretary of the United Voice union from 2007 to 2019 when she joined the Senate. The union, which has become the United Workers Union, has members in the childcare, hospitality, cleaning, health and aged care and manufacturing sectors.