CCTV in childcare: safety net or security risk?

7NEWS

5 days ago

Parents are demanding answers over plans to roll out security cameras in childcare centres.
But cybersecurity experts warn the move could put children in even greater danger.
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After a string of horrifying abuse cases inside Australian daycare centres pressure is mounting for a national CCTV solution.
In Melbourne, Joshua Brown is facing 70 charges relating to child sexual abuse, while a childcare director at a Montessori centre in Brisbane allegedly allowed her convicted husband to work at the centre.
Meanwhile, Brisbane childcare worker Nicolas James Parisi has been charged with an alleged indecent act involving a four-year-old child.
Governments and industry are considering CCTV for 17,000 centres nationwide.
But there's now a growing chorus of concern that surveillance might do more harm than good.
Parent Melody Glaister said the system is broken.
Her six-year-old daughter was once under the care of alleged serial offender Joshua Dale Brown at a childcare centre.
'She had to be tested for sexually transmitted diseases,' Glaister told 7NEWS chief reporter Chris Reason.
'CCTV cameras are not going to fix that problem.
'The whole thing is just broken. It's a mess.'
While she agrees CCTV could have a place in centres, she is worried about the risk of these sensitive images being accessed by unauthorised individuals.
'The problem with CCTV is obviously the images that it captures and then making sure where that's stored and how is that information going to be protected as well,' she said.
'If that ends up in the wrong hands, that's disastrous.'
Cybersecurity expert Ahmed Khanji warns that most cameras already in use are shockingly easy to hack.
He showed 7NEWS how easily hackers could tap illegally into unsecured feeds from driveways to living rooms with just a few clicks.
Khanji said childcare footage would be no exception.
'There are over 2 million connected devices online in Australia. Most don't even have passwords,' he said.
'More than 95 per cent would be vulnerable to an attack.'
He fears security cameras could actually help predators, not prevent them.
'I mean, it horrifies me and I'm a cybersecurity professional.'
Khanji warns there simply aren't enough trained experts to securely manage a nationwide rollout.
The United Workers Union is also pushing back on CCTV in centres.
'That is thousands of hours of filming of children. And how do we keep that safe?' Carolyn Smith, early childhood education director with the United Workers Union, said.
The union wants increased staff, training and checks.
They are calling for two educators per room, no matter the number of children and stronger checks and balances on working with children approvals plus a national oversight of CCTV data — if it's used at all.
Centres have to ensure 'those educators are trained and really well supported and empowered to raise issues'.
As a parent, Glaister slammed the ease of obtaining and keeping a working with children check, even during ongoing investigations.
'That piece of paper means nothing to me now. It should mean everything. But it doesn't,' she said.
'But if we don't learn from this, then sadly, incidents could happen again and more parents and children could be impacted by those.'