Questions without notice – Child Care

Parliament House, Canberra
E&OE

Subjects: Child Care

Ms DOYLE: My question is to the Attorney-General. How is the Albanese Labor government progressing reform to the working-with-children checks system, and are there any recent updates to this important work?

Ms ROWLAND: I thank the member for her question, because the foremost priority of any government is to keep Australians safe, and that especially extends to the most vulnerable in our community: our young people. So I'm pleased to inform the House that, on 15 August, Attorneys-General from across Australia agreed to deliver ambitious reforms to address systemic gaps in working-with-children check regimes.

Attorneys-General agreed to toughen the system to ensure that, if you're banned from holding a Working With Children Check in one jurisdiction, you're banned in all of them—so banned in one, banned in all. Importantly, the Commonwealth, states and territories are united in our commitment to progress this reform and urgently work towards implementation by the end of this year. Secondly, Attorneys-General also agreed to strengthen risk assessments and exclusion criteria for Working with Children Checks, meaning improved safeguards for children and families. Thirdly, the Commonwealth has also committed to progressing a national continuous checking capability, with the aim to have continuous near-real-time monitoring of national changes to criminal history information of Working with Children Check holders. This builds on a pilot, already underway, by the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission. States and territories have also agreed to start working on the complex task of how to integrate with the national hub, as we work towards better information sharing between jurisdictions, and I thank them for working with the Commonwealth on this package of vital reforms.

We know there are some six million Working with Children Check holders right around Australia, and the vast majority are good people who do the right thing. However, for those nefarious individuals who seek to exploit loopholes and forum shop where they have the opportunity, the message is clear: your time is up. Our reforms will strengthen the system. They will lift standards, and they will ensure a safer environment for our young people.

I note that these reforms also complement significant work underway to improve child safety outcomes in educational settings, and I especially acknowledge my most excellent colleague Minister Clare's work in this area. Together, our government is working to ensure our children grow up safe from harm, and we will not rest until that is a reality for every Australian family.