Latest news with #Affinity
The Guardian
5 days ago
- The Guardian
‘Hacking is assumed now': experts raise the alarm about added risk of surveillance cameras in childcare centres
In the wake of horrifying reports last week alleging that eight children had been sexually abused by a worker in a Melbourne childcare centre, politicians and providers have scrambled to offer a response. One option emerged from the fray as something concrete and immediate: the installation of CCTV cameras in childcare centres. Two of the country's largest for-profit providers, G8 and Affinity – which employed the man accused of more than 70 offences against children – announced they would either implement or speed up the rollout of CCTV to all of their centres. A third provider, Goodstart, which is the country's largest not-for-profit provider, has been installing CCTV cameras at its new centres since 2022, with about 70 of its roughly 660 centres currently fitted with cameras. A Goodstart spokesperson said the company would continue to roll them out across its entire network, but said this would take 'several years'. State governments are considering mandating CCTV across all centres, with NSW saying it will install cameras at centres with serious compliance concerns or those under investigation, with other states considering implementing similar trials. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email Goodstart warned that if the government made CCTV cameras mandatory they would have to consider funding support, 'as installation costs of secure systems are in the tens of thousands of dollars per centre'. But early childhood experts have raised concerns about the move, saying that a reliance on CCTV as a safety measure means the more difficult, structural work in the sector might not be done, and the introduction of CCTV cameras into spaces where more than 1 million young children play, eat and sleep poses significant child safety risks. 'I think firstly, it is really important to say that everyone wants children to be safe. And so obviously we all need to be thinking about every option there,' says Carolyn Smith, the early education director at the United Workers Union, which covers the early childhood education workforce. 'I think there are two concerns around CCTV, and the first is that this looks like a fix, but also creates potentially a lot of unintended consequences. So, there's 17,000 centres across Australia. They will be filming children all day, every day. That is a lot of hours of images of children. How does that get stored safely? What happens if a parent doesn't want their children filmed?' Smith has concerns about hacking, data storage, and the way AI might be used in conjunction with the footage to produce illegal and deeply harmful material. 'In this era … hacking is assumed now in most systems. They've hacked almost every bank, they've hacked superannuation companies, they've hacked Qantas. The local childcare centre, how are they going to keep [footage secure] that potentially could be used very badly?' Lisa Bryant, an early childhood education consultant, agrees. 'I don't think it's a good idea for a whole range of reasons,' she says. 'First of all, it's not always effective. We had a case in Canberra a few years ago – the guy's still in prison – where the offending occurred in a blind spot of the cameras. So it doesn't take long to work out where the cameras are and where the cameras aren't. And there are places that you can't legally put those cameras and it's in places like toilets etc – the places where the offending is more likely to happen are the very places where you're not likely to be able to put the cameras. 'There's certain children that wouldn't be able to have their images recorded by those cameras, like children who are in state care. So what happens if you've got those children in your centre? Can you not use your CCTVs there?' Bryant also cites a case reported in 2021 of hackers who allegedly gained access to the CCTV at some Australian childcare centres. 'All this data has to be served somewhere and often it's recorded into a cloud-based system and that allows paedophiles a great source if they want to look at children.' Lizzie Blandthorn, the Victorian minister for children, told reporters on Friday that she personally supports CCTV surveillance cameras being installed in childcare centres, saying police had told her it would be an effective deterrent against offending. However, she said the Victorian government would take its time to consider the risks presented by CCTV cameras before making it mandatory. 'CCTV would act as a deterrent, but there are questions that need to be answered about how you safely install it and store the information and where that information goes. 'It is not as simple as just putting up cameras.' Goodstart, the not-for-profit childcare provider that began rolling out CCTV in its centres in 2022, has a comprehensive, publicly available document that outlines its CCTV policy. The document says feeds are not monitored in real-time, do not capture audio, and cameras are not installed in bathrooms, nappy change areas or staff rooms. It says the footage is generally kept for 30 days and is accessible to authorised members of the safety health and wellbeing team at Goodstart. Parents can apply to get footage of an incident involving their child. A Goodstart spokesperson said: 'We have found during our trial that CCTV can help maintain safe environments for children, help provide fair and accurate information on incidents and disputes, help give families peace of mind and boost security by deterring break-ins and theft.' But the spokesperson warned that implementing CCTV systems in a secure way was expensive: 'Part of the high cost of installation of CCTV systems is that we record on a secure system with strict protocols to protect the data and the encrypted transport of data to cloud storage.' Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion Guardian Australia can reveal that Affinity, one of the providers speeding up its rollout of CCTV cameras, is still in the process of developing guidelines for how the CCTV footage will be stored, how long it will be retained, and how child safety concerns will be addressed, despite having already installed CCTV cameras at 100 childcare centres – 40% of its centres nationally – over the last few years. A spokesperson for Affinity said: 'The detailed technical, operational and policy settings, including footage retention, data security and specific exclusions, are also currently being developed. These will align with all relevant laws and with sector-leading privacy and child safety standards. 'The intent of the new rollout is to enhance supervision and safety, with installation prioritised for areas where it will have the most impact. As with all measures involving children, we are carefully balancing safety, privacy and compliance obligations.' G8 Education, which is accelerating the rollout of CCTV to all centres after the trial use of it in 'several of our centres', did not answer questions about whether it had already developed a CCTV policy, but a spokesperson for the company said: 'We understand the importance of adhering to child safety, child dignity, privacy and data protection requirements, and commit to adherence with all relevant privacy laws and sector regulations and the adoption of best practice cybersecurity measures.' Anne Hollonds, the national children's commissioner, says she is 'not opposed to CCTV, per se, in some situations', but she does have concerns about an over-reliance on it, and she worries it is 'an apparent quick fix'. 'It doesn't replace proper staffing levels of trained educators who've been properly screened in the recruitment [process] and a proactive child-safe culture that involves everyone from the boardroom to the sand pit.' G8, Affinity and Goodstart all said in statements that they saw the use of CCTV cameras in centres as one part of a suite of child safety measures they were implementing or had already implemented. The bigger work that needs to be done, says Hollonds, is addressing chronic staffing shortages in the sector and high rates of casualisation in the workforce, as well as introducing stronger regulation, including a national register of early childhood educators, that would allow employers to know the work history, credentials and any investigations of potential staff members. 'I would rather that we were working towards the systemic changes needed to create an early childhood education and care sector that was both safe and in the best interests of children.' Smith, from the UWU, agrees. 'Really, the broader concern is that people say, 'oh, we fixed child safety now, we've got cameras,' and some of the harder, more expensive work that takes a bit more effort won't be done.' Smith says that addressing staffing levels, as well as transparency at centres, is key, arguing that centres should have to disclose the number of casual staff they use, their staff turnover, their history of using waivers to get exemptions from having staff with requisite credentials, and any breaches of quality standards. 'All of those things should be publicly available and easily accessible to parents and families and to educators, when they're deciding whether they're going to go and work there.' Finally, all of the experts agreed there needed to be real consequences for providers who do the wrong thing. Last week, the federal education minister, Jason Clare, announced the government would seek to change laws when parliament resumes later this month, to give it the power to withdraw a centre's right to receive childcare subsidy (CCS) – the main source of government funding for childcare. Smith says this was a significant and welcome announcement, but also that it was 'pretty shocking' the government did not already have the means to cut a centre's funding if it is doing the wrong thing. 'Previously … they had no legal basis to withhold CCS,' she says. 'We really welcome that change to the legislation … There needs to be consequences for poor behaviour.'
Sydney Morning Herald
5 days ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Joshua Brown worked in childcare centre's kitchen in days before his arrest
Childcare worker Joshua Dale Brown was working in the kitchen at a Melbourne childcare centre days before he was charged with more than 70 offences including allegedly using bodily fluids to tamper with food. In a statement to this masthead on Friday afternoon, a spokesman for childcare centre operator Affinity confirmed the alleged child sex offender had 'assisted in the kitchen' at its Papilio Early Learning Centre in Essendon during a brief period earlier this year, supporting meal preparations while centre chefs were absent. Brown had led children in a 'food-based' learning activity, which included guiding children in an educational activity where they had prepared rocky road, the statement said. Brown, 26, is due to appear in court in September facing more than 70 charges, including sexually penetrating a child under 12, attempting to sexually penetrate a child under 12, sexually assaulting a child under 16, and producing child abuse material. Affinity said in the statement that the involvement of educators in food-based activities was 'consistent' with their 'play-based learning principles', and that centre managers with the 'relevant food safety certifications' were responsible for supervising educators in the kitchen. The company was not aware of any further instances where Brown had provided kitchen assistance in other Affinity centres, the spokesperson said. Meanwhile, ways to fast-track the introduction of CCTV monitoring in childcare centres will be examined under an urgent review of the sector. Details of the Victorian government's rapid child safety review – which was called in the wake of allegations of sexual abuse by Brown – were revealed by Minister for Children Lizzie Blandthorn on Friday.
The Age
5 days ago
- The Age
Joshua Brown worked in childcare centre's kitchen in days before his arrest
Childcare worker Joshua Dale Brown was working in the kitchen at a Melbourne childcare centre days before he was charged with more than 70 offences including allegedly using bodily fluids to tamper with food. In a statement to this masthead on Friday afternoon, a spokesman for childcare centre operator Affinity confirmed the alleged child sex offender had 'assisted in the kitchen' at its Papilio Early Learning Centre in Essendon during a brief period earlier this year, supporting meal preparations while centre chefs were absent. Brown had led children in a 'food-based' learning activity, which included guiding children in an educational activity where they had prepared rocky road, the statement said. Brown, 26, is due to appear in court in September facing more than 70 charges, including sexually penetrating a child under 12, attempting to sexually penetrate a child under 12, sexually assaulting a child under 16, and producing child abuse material. Affinity said in the statement that the involvement of educators in food-based activities was 'consistent' with their 'play-based learning principles', and that centre managers with the 'relevant food safety certifications' were responsible for supervising educators in the kitchen. The company was not aware of any further instances where Brown had provided kitchen assistance in other Affinity centres, the spokesperson said. Meanwhile, ways to fast-track the introduction of CCTV monitoring in childcare centres will be examined under an urgent review of the sector. Details of the Victorian government's rapid child safety review – which was called in the wake of allegations of sexual abuse by Brown – were revealed by Minister for Children Lizzie Blandthorn on Friday.
The Advertiser
7 days ago
- The Advertiser
Second childcare's CCTV promise after alleged sex abuse
A second major childcare operator is rolling out CCTV cameras in hundreds of facilities after two of its staff were charged with sexually abusing children. Childcare provider Affinity Education Group on Wednesday announced it would fast-track installing CCTV in over 250 of its facilities following disturbing accusations against former employee Joshua Dale Brown. Allegations of child sex abuse against Brown sent shock waves through the industry after the 26-year-old was charged with more than 70 sex offences. The alleged abuse involved eight children at Creative Garden Early Learning centre in Melbourne's west, which is operated by rival provider G8 Education. He was arrested in May and it was revealed he worked at 20 childcare facilities across Melbourne from 2017 to 2025. Affinity, which is owned by a private equity firm, also confirmed it had reported a NSW employee to police after sexual abuse allegations against the worker were raised. "Affinity Education took these allegations extremely seriously when they were raised and reported them to the appropriate authorities," a spokesperson said. The company was committed to supporting every family impacted by the allegations against Brown and would continue to cooperate with authorities' investigations, chief executive Tim Hickey said in a separate statement. "I am deeply sorry for the distress this is causing our families - no family should have to go through this," he said. Affinity's announcement came a day after G8 Education announced it will put CCTV cameras into more than 400 centres and pledged an independent review once criminal proceedings were finalised. The ASX-listed company has lost more than $170 million in value since the allegations were aired. Meanwhile, parents are still waiting for information about Brown's full work history more than a week after the revelations were first aired publicly. Victorian Education Minister Ben Carroll attributed the delay to detailed checks with childcare centres on when and where the accused had worked. "We're wanting to put a real premium on making sure the information that is given out is accurate and factual," he said. The accusations have sharpened the national focus on childcare centre safety and sparked calls for reform, with a state government review under way in addition to the criminal investigation. But more than half of childcare educators are concerned for-profit providers do not prioritise safety, care of children or quality education, according to a United Workers Union survey of 2000 workers. About three-in-four educators say their centres operate below minimum staffing requirements at least weekly and 42 per cent say it happened every day, according to a survey conducted before the allegations against Brown became public. Some 83 per cent said safety was compromised by a common staffing loophole that allows centres to move educators between rooms and count educators not on the floor towards mandated staffing level requirements. "It is entrenching educators regularly working below minimum staffing requirements in their rooms," the union's early education director Carolyn Smith said. Ms Smith claimed understaffing and lack of inclusion support was failing workers and children, ramping up calls for national regulation and better funding for the sector. A parent of one child Brown allegedly abused is suing the childcare centre operator, while more than 100 families are seeking advice about their legal options. Some 2600 families and carers who had children at the centres where Brown worked have been notified and more than 1200 children recommended to undergo testing for infectious diseases. A second major childcare operator is rolling out CCTV cameras in hundreds of facilities after two of its staff were charged with sexually abusing children. Childcare provider Affinity Education Group on Wednesday announced it would fast-track installing CCTV in over 250 of its facilities following disturbing accusations against former employee Joshua Dale Brown. Allegations of child sex abuse against Brown sent shock waves through the industry after the 26-year-old was charged with more than 70 sex offences. The alleged abuse involved eight children at Creative Garden Early Learning centre in Melbourne's west, which is operated by rival provider G8 Education. He was arrested in May and it was revealed he worked at 20 childcare facilities across Melbourne from 2017 to 2025. Affinity, which is owned by a private equity firm, also confirmed it had reported a NSW employee to police after sexual abuse allegations against the worker were raised. "Affinity Education took these allegations extremely seriously when they were raised and reported them to the appropriate authorities," a spokesperson said. The company was committed to supporting every family impacted by the allegations against Brown and would continue to cooperate with authorities' investigations, chief executive Tim Hickey said in a separate statement. "I am deeply sorry for the distress this is causing our families - no family should have to go through this," he said. Affinity's announcement came a day after G8 Education announced it will put CCTV cameras into more than 400 centres and pledged an independent review once criminal proceedings were finalised. The ASX-listed company has lost more than $170 million in value since the allegations were aired. Meanwhile, parents are still waiting for information about Brown's full work history more than a week after the revelations were first aired publicly. Victorian Education Minister Ben Carroll attributed the delay to detailed checks with childcare centres on when and where the accused had worked. "We're wanting to put a real premium on making sure the information that is given out is accurate and factual," he said. The accusations have sharpened the national focus on childcare centre safety and sparked calls for reform, with a state government review under way in addition to the criminal investigation. But more than half of childcare educators are concerned for-profit providers do not prioritise safety, care of children or quality education, according to a United Workers Union survey of 2000 workers. About three-in-four educators say their centres operate below minimum staffing requirements at least weekly and 42 per cent say it happened every day, according to a survey conducted before the allegations against Brown became public. Some 83 per cent said safety was compromised by a common staffing loophole that allows centres to move educators between rooms and count educators not on the floor towards mandated staffing level requirements. "It is entrenching educators regularly working below minimum staffing requirements in their rooms," the union's early education director Carolyn Smith said. Ms Smith claimed understaffing and lack of inclusion support was failing workers and children, ramping up calls for national regulation and better funding for the sector. A parent of one child Brown allegedly abused is suing the childcare centre operator, while more than 100 families are seeking advice about their legal options. Some 2600 families and carers who had children at the centres where Brown worked have been notified and more than 1200 children recommended to undergo testing for infectious diseases. A second major childcare operator is rolling out CCTV cameras in hundreds of facilities after two of its staff were charged with sexually abusing children. Childcare provider Affinity Education Group on Wednesday announced it would fast-track installing CCTV in over 250 of its facilities following disturbing accusations against former employee Joshua Dale Brown. Allegations of child sex abuse against Brown sent shock waves through the industry after the 26-year-old was charged with more than 70 sex offences. The alleged abuse involved eight children at Creative Garden Early Learning centre in Melbourne's west, which is operated by rival provider G8 Education. He was arrested in May and it was revealed he worked at 20 childcare facilities across Melbourne from 2017 to 2025. Affinity, which is owned by a private equity firm, also confirmed it had reported a NSW employee to police after sexual abuse allegations against the worker were raised. "Affinity Education took these allegations extremely seriously when they were raised and reported them to the appropriate authorities," a spokesperson said. The company was committed to supporting every family impacted by the allegations against Brown and would continue to cooperate with authorities' investigations, chief executive Tim Hickey said in a separate statement. "I am deeply sorry for the distress this is causing our families - no family should have to go through this," he said. Affinity's announcement came a day after G8 Education announced it will put CCTV cameras into more than 400 centres and pledged an independent review once criminal proceedings were finalised. The ASX-listed company has lost more than $170 million in value since the allegations were aired. Meanwhile, parents are still waiting for information about Brown's full work history more than a week after the revelations were first aired publicly. Victorian Education Minister Ben Carroll attributed the delay to detailed checks with childcare centres on when and where the accused had worked. "We're wanting to put a real premium on making sure the information that is given out is accurate and factual," he said. The accusations have sharpened the national focus on childcare centre safety and sparked calls for reform, with a state government review under way in addition to the criminal investigation. But more than half of childcare educators are concerned for-profit providers do not prioritise safety, care of children or quality education, according to a United Workers Union survey of 2000 workers. About three-in-four educators say their centres operate below minimum staffing requirements at least weekly and 42 per cent say it happened every day, according to a survey conducted before the allegations against Brown became public. Some 83 per cent said safety was compromised by a common staffing loophole that allows centres to move educators between rooms and count educators not on the floor towards mandated staffing level requirements. "It is entrenching educators regularly working below minimum staffing requirements in their rooms," the union's early education director Carolyn Smith said. Ms Smith claimed understaffing and lack of inclusion support was failing workers and children, ramping up calls for national regulation and better funding for the sector. A parent of one child Brown allegedly abused is suing the childcare centre operator, while more than 100 families are seeking advice about their legal options. Some 2600 families and carers who had children at the centres where Brown worked have been notified and more than 1200 children recommended to undergo testing for infectious diseases. A second major childcare operator is rolling out CCTV cameras in hundreds of facilities after two of its staff were charged with sexually abusing children. Childcare provider Affinity Education Group on Wednesday announced it would fast-track installing CCTV in over 250 of its facilities following disturbing accusations against former employee Joshua Dale Brown. Allegations of child sex abuse against Brown sent shock waves through the industry after the 26-year-old was charged with more than 70 sex offences. The alleged abuse involved eight children at Creative Garden Early Learning centre in Melbourne's west, which is operated by rival provider G8 Education. He was arrested in May and it was revealed he worked at 20 childcare facilities across Melbourne from 2017 to 2025. Affinity, which is owned by a private equity firm, also confirmed it had reported a NSW employee to police after sexual abuse allegations against the worker were raised. "Affinity Education took these allegations extremely seriously when they were raised and reported them to the appropriate authorities," a spokesperson said. The company was committed to supporting every family impacted by the allegations against Brown and would continue to cooperate with authorities' investigations, chief executive Tim Hickey said in a separate statement. "I am deeply sorry for the distress this is causing our families - no family should have to go through this," he said. Affinity's announcement came a day after G8 Education announced it will put CCTV cameras into more than 400 centres and pledged an independent review once criminal proceedings were finalised. The ASX-listed company has lost more than $170 million in value since the allegations were aired. Meanwhile, parents are still waiting for information about Brown's full work history more than a week after the revelations were first aired publicly. Victorian Education Minister Ben Carroll attributed the delay to detailed checks with childcare centres on when and where the accused had worked. "We're wanting to put a real premium on making sure the information that is given out is accurate and factual," he said. The accusations have sharpened the national focus on childcare centre safety and sparked calls for reform, with a state government review under way in addition to the criminal investigation. But more than half of childcare educators are concerned for-profit providers do not prioritise safety, care of children or quality education, according to a United Workers Union survey of 2000 workers. About three-in-four educators say their centres operate below minimum staffing requirements at least weekly and 42 per cent say it happened every day, according to a survey conducted before the allegations against Brown became public. Some 83 per cent said safety was compromised by a common staffing loophole that allows centres to move educators between rooms and count educators not on the floor towards mandated staffing level requirements. "It is entrenching educators regularly working below minimum staffing requirements in their rooms," the union's early education director Carolyn Smith said. Ms Smith claimed understaffing and lack of inclusion support was failing workers and children, ramping up calls for national regulation and better funding for the sector. A parent of one child Brown allegedly abused is suing the childcare centre operator, while more than 100 families are seeking advice about their legal options. Some 2600 families and carers who had children at the centres where Brown worked have been notified and more than 1200 children recommended to undergo testing for infectious diseases.
ABC News
7 days ago
- ABC News
Second childcare operator where alleged abuser Joshua Dale Brown worked to install CCTV at all centres
A second childcare operator which employed alleged abuser Joshua Dale Brown has announced it will install CCTV across all centres. It follows a similar pledge from the country's largest childcare provider, G8 Education, which said on Tuesday it would roll out the technology at its 400 centres and would commission an independent review. Melbourne-based former childcare worker Mr Brown, who worked at centres operated by both companies, was charged with more than 70 child sex abuse offences last week. 'We understand the concern and anxiety this news has caused within our community, not only for those directly involved, but for all families who entrust us with the care of their children,' Affinity, which operates 250 early education centres, said in a statement. Affinity chief executive Tim Hickey said the company would implement a number of initiatives to further enhance child safety measures already in place. 'No family should have to go through this,' he said. 'Our educators and staff share the deep concern over failings when they occur in the early childhood education and care sector. 'We are committed to supporting every family impacted and will continue to co-operate fully with the authorities as the investigation continues.' The organisation has also announced it will check if parents had preferences regarding who assists their child with toileting or nappy changes and provide personal device lock-boxes for staff to store devices before commencing shifts. It has also pledged to introduce mandatory refresher training on child safety policies and review centre layouts to identify blind spots as part of a new suite of safety measures being introduced. Goodstart Early Learning chief executive Ros Baxter said on Wednesday the not-for-profit, which runs 650 centres nationwide, was also trialling CCTV. However, she noted there were complexities around the technology, which she said raised questions around civil liberties. "I think for all of us who have children, we understand that children have rights and dignity as well, and we need to think about these measures within the context of those rights and that dignity." Speaking at a roundtable held in Cairns, Queensland education minister John-Paul Langbroek announced Queensland childcare workers will undertake mandatory safety training each year in an Australian-first. The training will teach workers how to identify warning signs of potential predatory behaviour, both in the hiring process and at work, as well as how to raise concerns safely. Currently, mandatory training for childcare workers revolves solely around identifying signs of abuse outside of the centre by parents or guardians. Mr Langbroek said the government wanted to roll out the initiative as quickly as possible. "As the sector changes and as predators change their behaviours, it's important for the staff to be trained regularly in these types of issues, as happens in other professions," he said. He said Queensland would be pushing for a Commonwealth register of childcare employees at a meeting in August with federal education minister Jason Clare and other state ministers. "We've already seen from some of the cases that have been in the past that someone could just leave a state and go to another state jurisdiction and work," he said. In a statement, Mr Clare said ministers had "agreed to accelerate work already underway to develop nationwide registration of early educators". Mr Langbroek was questioned on whether the government would consider stopping childcare workers from using their phones at work, to further protect children. "A phone ban is much more complex. We've got four different ways of people doing early childhood [care], including family daycare centres, which means that they're in someone's home," he said. "Are we going to tell that person they can't have their own phone?" He said more investigation was needed into solutions that people saw as "a simple answer to a complex problem". Mr Langbroek labelled suggestions for a ban on males working in the sector as a "knee-jerk reaction". "We have to make sure that we're doing things that space that are based on research, and then we can make appropriate decisions," he said.
