WA government to ban mobile phones from childcare centres after review into industry

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a day ago

Mobile phones will be banned in Western Australia childcare centres and more money provided for safety checks after a snap one-month review into the state's sector found compliance issues are on the rise.
The review was ordered by Early Childhood and Education Minister Sabine Winton last month following reports a Melbourne childcare worker had been charged with more than 70 offences, including sexual assault and producing child abuse material
Ms Winton confirmed on Tuesday the state government would move to ban all personal devices in centres across WA, including those that have a camera, like smart watches and iPads, "as fast as [it] can".
"This move is in line with strong responses from states such as South Australia and Victoria, and recognises that these devices can pose a risk to the safety of children," she said.
"I need to work with the union and our sector partners to make sure that there are no unintended consequences."
She said "reasonable adjustments" could be made for workers who have caring responsibilities and might require access to a device.
"We as parents need to know that children are safe in those settings and that is my number one priority through this work I've done," she said.
"I need to not only assure parents right across Western Australia that child safety is the government's number one priority, but it's the number one priority of our sector partners, and that's why I called the snap review."
The review was conducted by the state's Education and Care Regulatory Unit (ECRU), the body which overseas and applies regulations in WA's childcare sector.
This was in addition to The Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority's (ACECQA) review of child safety arrangements under the National Quality Framework.
Authorities made five recommendations following the WA probe.
These include increasing training for early childhood educators, requiring providers to improve their approach to child safety and to urgently progress the Education and Care Services National Law Application Bill 2025 through parliament.
Ms Winton said in addition to supporting all the recommendations "subject to ongoing national and state work", the government will inject $1.1 million to bolster the capacity of ECRU for compliance checks at centres.
"It's a 10 per cent uplift in the total cost that ECRU have right now, and so I'm very confident that this is immediate funding that ECRU can have to step up the important role that they play," she said.
The report however found compliance issues have increased in the past year in WA's early childcare services — up 14 per cent in 2024-25 from the previous financial year, which it suggests is likely a result of growth in the number of services operating.
"There are actually now more services in place than there ever have been … when you get more compliance notifications, it actually means ECRU are doing their job, and I don't apologise for that," Ms Winton said.
United Worker's Union WA branch secretary Carolyn Smith described the ban on mobile phones from the workplace as a "measured and sensible" response.
"Unfortunately we know that personal devices have been involved in some of the really, really awful things we've seen in the last few months in early education," she said.
"Many providers already have that ban.
Ms Smith said the additional funding from the state government was also welcome.
"We absolutely welcome extra money to the regulator," she said.
"We need the regulator out in centres checking that centres are doing the right things and holding them to account."
Opposition spokesperson for Early Childhood Liam Staltari said he welcomed review's findings.
"We will support any measure that makes our centres safer, makes our children safer, gives confidence to parents and gives respect and certainty to the amazing childcare workers and educators who give their all every day," he said.
"We did note with some concern, the review shows that WA lags the national average for the proportion of centres that meet the national quality standard benchmark.
"We'll work in support of any measures that lift that because again, all sides of politics can work together to make our centres safer."
Ms Winton also signed off on — along with all other Australian education ministers — stronger, mandatory child safety measures back in June.
The changes, which come into effect from September, include mandatory 24-hour reporting of any allegations, complaints or incidents of physical or sexual abuse, as well as stronger protections around digital technology use.