Jonno Duniam: Childcare bill still needs ‘interrogation' despite fast-track

News.com.au

4 days ago

In an early show of bipartisan goodwill, a Labor childcare Bill is expected to pass through parliament with relative ease, but big issues within the new law are yet to be ironed out by the federal opposition, which is concerned about the children who could be left behind.
The new legislation, which was tabled in parliament by federal Education Minister Jason Clare on Wednesday, was proposed in the wake of shocking news out of Victoria where a man is accused of 70 separate instances of child abuse.
Joshua Brown, 26, worked at 20 childcare centres between 2017 and May 2025.
Addressing parliament, Mr Clare said 'mums and dads of thousands of children' were undergoing immense levels of stress and trauma surrounding the wellbeing of their kids.
'Governments of different colours, state and federal, have taken action but not enough and not fast enough. That's the truth,' he said.
'We have to do everything we can to ensure the safety of our children when they walk – or are carried – through the doors of an early childhood education and care service at centres across the country.'
Opposition education spokesman Jonno Duniam said he was 'ultimately satisfied' with the proposed Bill, which he said the opposition 'will not delay the passage of … in any way'.
'We'll get these things through parliament this fortnight, but we now need to focus on state and territory governments and what they do to protect children in health care,' he told the ABC's Sally Sara on Radio National on Thursday morning.
'We've got our party room and other arrangements to consider these laws that have only just been introduced, but soon after that I expect they'll be passed and enforced.'
Despite the optimism, Mr Duniam said the opposition still had questions for the government about particular elements of the proposed laws.
One issue revolves around 'childcare deserts', parts of the country – usually in regional and remote Australia – that have significantly less childcare options than our nation's urban hubs.
One feature of the Bill allows the government to withdraw subsidies for centres that perform their child protection duties poorly, but families with no other options may end up bearing the brunt of the punishment.
'A question I've put to the government was 'well, what happens if the funding is withdrawn?' Either a centre is shut and no services are available or, in some cases, when under these arrangements funding would be withdrawn, (the centre) might then send a bill for 100 per cent of the cost to the parents, and that would be unacceptable,' Mr Duniam said.
'This is something that remains for interrogation.'
When asked if mandatory CCTV would be discussed, Mr Duniam said he was 'kind of baffled' that it wasn't already enforced.
'It is in centres but obviously not mandatory in all jurisdictions. I think the government needs to get it right in terms of its deployment,' he said.
'There are privacy concerns. We know CCTV has been used by perpetrators of these horrendous acts, so while it is a safety measure, we need to make sure appropriate safeguards are in place.'