The new threat facing Australian children in daycare centres
Traditional four-year university degrees in early education are being whittled down to just 10-month graduate diplomas as institutions cash in on an industry shortage of teachers and market 'worthless' courses to international students.
The industry has come under the spotlight in recent days after Melbourne childcare worker Joshua Dale Brown, 26, was charged with over 70 child abuse offences, including the sexual penetration of a child and producing child abuse material.
At Southern Cross University in regional NSW, an estimated 6,000 students have enrolled in its 10-month early education graduate diploma in the last two years.
University insiders claim that the majority are international students, including older men in their 40s and 50s with corporate backgrounds.
'Childcare services are recognising that students are quite openly telling them that they are only there to get their permanent residency and that's why they are undertaking the course,' a university insider told ABC's 7.30 program.
Parents should be concerned that people are coming to Australia to study childcare as a pathway to permanent residency, immigration expert Mark Glazbrook says.
'They're looking after our children and in some cases they're not attending their classes,' he told the program.
'There are a lot of education providers that are set up to deliver courses that are worthless, they're useless. This is a big concern.'
University of Sydney early education professor Dr Marianne Fenech said the growing number of international enrolments was a 'cash cow for universities'.
'Employers of high quality services are telling us that the quality of graduates coming out is not what it used to be, it is not as high as it should be,' she said.
Dr Fenech was alarmed to hear claims that students were placed with childcare centres that failed to meet minimum national quality standards.
Southern Cross University told the program that the graduate diploma is a 'rigorous, high quality program' which includes 60 days of practical experience in early childhood education settings.
It is also fully accredited by the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency.
'Within 10 months, our Graduate Diploma in Education (Early Childhood) will prepare you to work in early childhood education and care services, long day care centres, and preschools,' a course description on the university website states.
'Our course covers key areas of early childhood education and care, theory, principles and practices that best support children's learning and development.'
The regulator has since confirmed that it has launched a review into the university.
Daily Mail Australia has contacted Southern Cross University for further comment.
Parents of 1,200 children were advised to consider testing them for sexually transmitted diseases after coming into contact with Brown.
The 26-year-old worked at a total of 20 childcare centres over an eight-year period between January 2017 and May 2025.
Brown was not known to police before his arrest and had a valid Working With Children Check, which has since been cancelled.
Police discovered evidence of the alleged horrific offending by the childcare worker while investigating 36-year-old Michael Simon Wilson.
Wilson, from Hoppers Crossing, was charged with 45 child sex offences on Wednesday, including bestiality, rape and possession of child abuse material, according to court documents.
It is understood Brown and Wilson are known to each other, but Wilson's charges are not linked to any childcare centre and involve different alleged victims.
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