Abuse and neglect of children in daycare centres shames us all
Many parents harbour deep-seated and unspoken fears about leaving children in care, and the continuing allegations of neglect and abuse at childcare centres must rekindle their worst nightmares.
In a heartbreaking article, the Herald 's Amber Schultz reports that a three-year-old girl in daycare allegedly left in soiled clothing all day will probably need a kidney transplant after medical notes showed that, along with her medication and congenital factors, recurrent urinary tract infections contributed to the disease.
She attended Spring Farm daycare centre in south-west Sydney between 2020 and 2023. In 2022, Affinity Education Group took over the business. Since then, the centre has been issued several serious non-compliance orders, released as part of a cache of internal regulatory documents following a parliamentary order obtained by NSW Greens MP Abigail Boyd. On May 5, the NSW Department of Education's Early Childhood and Care Regulatory Authority suspended Spring Farm's licence for three months.
The latest revelations came after an investigation by ABC's 7.30, which included footage of a worker at another Sydney Affinity Education centre repeatedly slapping a baby.
A spokesman for the Affinity Education Group said the suspension was 'disappointing', given the centre's work with the regulator to improve compliance, which included improving its National Quality Standards rating and reducing staff turnover.
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However, such allegations undermine faith in the sector and follow a spate of men being prosecuted for abusing children in childcare. Last year, three childcare workers were arrested in three days for child abuse in NSW, involving at least 10 victims, a former childcare worker pleaded guilty to 307 offences in Brisbane and Italy and in Canberra, another childcare worker was convicted of an act of indecency on a four-year-old boy.
The federal government recognised changes to the Australian workforce and introduced the Child Care Act in 1972, providing capital and recurrent funding for not-for-profit long day care services. But the Howard government stopped operational subsidies for community-based centres, and with profit the driving force, privateers such as Eddy Groves' ABC Learning rushed into the new market: staff professionalism took second place to cheaper wages, planning controls were scrapped and standards tumbled across the sector. The government also introduced needs-based funding to ensure resources were allocated where they were most needed.
Since then, the industry has grown exponentially with 9200 childcare centres across the country and some 400 opening annually. As of early 2024, 1,498,220 children from 1,069,650 families attended a Child Care Subsidy-approved child care service in Australia.
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