6 days ago
Paedophile banned, Working with Children Checks mandated for Perth Royal Show exhibitors
Perth Royal Show organisers say a convicted paedophile has been "banned for life" after the ABC revealed he ran demonstrations for children last year.
And the revelation has led to a revision of the show's Working with Children Checks, which have now become mandatory for exhibitors.
The paedophile, a prominent WA farmer and businessman, was spotted by the mother of his victim in a pavilion last year surrounded by young children as he performed a cow-milking demonstration.
The man is considered a Class One offender under the Working With Children Act, and due to the seriousness of his offending, would not have been granted a clearance if he had been required to obtain one by organisers.
The incident prompted child safety advocates to call for mandatory Working with Children Checks, saying they would "remove any doubt".
Royal Agricultural Society chief executive Robyn Sermon said this year, all exhibitors and volunteers would be required to have Working with Children Checks — but stopped short of requiring them for all vendors.
Ms Sermon said since the incident, show organisers had increased the number of background checks to more than 1,000, more than double the number from last year, as she sought to assure parents the show was safe.
"We have 80 monitored cameras, we have an emergency operations centre, we have 55 police on site, 130 security guards and hundreds of trained people," she said.
She said it was not "feasible" to implement mandatory Working with Children Checks for all vendors, but the show would take a "risk-based" approach.
"It depends on what people are doing, if people are sitting under a camera selling … hats to people in full public view, they're not necessarily required," Ms Sermon said.
"We have over probably 5,000 people involved in pulling the show together, many from small businesses, many from smaller community organisations, many volunteers, as you're aware, and so we think we've got the balance [right]."
Background checks were only a "part of the puzzle", she said.
"I think we've taken a very pragmatic approach," Ms Sermon said.
'I think parents, when they come to the show, are very good at supervising their own children, that's a very big part of it too, we always encourage parental supervision of kids."
Agriculture Minister Jackie Jarvis said she was confident the show had taken the right steps and had gone "above and beyond" the regulatory requirements.
"You've got to remember parts of the Royal Show are equivalent to a large shopping mall where you have commercial providers," Ms Jarvis said.
The State Government has injected $2.8 million into the Royal Show this year, some $2.2 million of which is earmarked to provide subsidised tickets.
Tickets for children under 16 years old and concession card holders will be half price, and children under four will be let in for free.
