Latest news with #RoyalCommissionintoInstitutionalResponsestoChildSexualAbuse
Sydney Morning Herald
6 days ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
My job is to root out dodgy workers. These are the warning signs to look for in childcare
'There is evil everywhere under the sun,' wrote Agatha Christie. But the recent case of a Victorian childcare worker charged with over 70 child sex offences is a reminder that reality can be darker than fiction. That worker, Joshua Dale Brown, was employed across at least 23 centres over 10 years and was reportedly sacked from a childcare centre months before he started working at the centre that is the location of the alleged assaults. As a lawyer investigating employee misconduct in the childcare, aged care, and education sectors, I've seen how evil infiltrates workplaces. My role often involves advising employers on how to respond swiftly to allegations and remove perpetrators from the workplace, and when to refer matters to police. I've observed how easily offenders move between employers, avoiding accountability. In some cases, I've dealt with the same individual being terminated by two different employers. This is often enabled by deeds of release containing confidentiality clauses, which prevent former employers from sharing critical information, including allegations of serious misconduct. There is a smorgasbord of legal actions an employee can bring against an employer in Australia, including unfair dismissal laws covering any employee who earns under $183,100 and general protections claims that apply to every employee even during probationary periods. So contractual release agreements are often a practical way to resolve employment disputes. But what concerns me is when confidentiality and non-disparagement clauses – a convenient tool for getting rid of bad employees – are used with people who are clearly unfit to work with children. By preventing employers from disclosing the reasons for an employee's departure, these can conceal serious or criminal behaviour, leaving future employers in the dark. The problem of gag orders has gone unaddressed for too long. The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse was critical in 2017 of how some schools were concealing worker misconduct by using confidentiality clauses to protect their reputation in settlement agreements. The royal commission also found that non-disparagement clauses were preventing employers from giving negative references about former employees, allowing individuals who posed a risk to children to move between institutions undetected. Similar clauses are still used widely by some employers today. Employers must stop including, or accepting, confidentiality clauses in exit agreements where there are concerns about safety risks posed by a worker and ensure accountability and transparency. If that means the employer might need to defend an unfair dismissal claim, so be it. Employers can't risk enabling further misconduct or abuse. And it's not just the childcare sector that attracts perpetrators. I once acted for an aged care provider after allegations of sexual misconduct and sexual assault by a male worker emerged from elderly residents, most with dementia, and their families. Police confirmed a history of similar allegations at other facilities. After his dismissal, the worker filed an unfair dismissal claim. It was later revealed he had signed a deed of release with a former employer, preventing disclosure of earlier allegations.
The Age
6 days ago
- The Age
My job is to root out dodgy workers. These are the warning signs to look for in childcare
'There is evil everywhere under the sun,' wrote Agatha Christie. But the recent case of a Victorian childcare worker charged with over 70 child sex offences is a reminder that reality can be darker than fiction. That worker, Joshua Dale Brown, was employed across at least 23 centres over 10 years and was reportedly sacked from a childcare centre months before he started working at the centre that is the location of the alleged assaults. As a lawyer investigating employee misconduct in the childcare, aged care, and education sectors, I've seen how evil infiltrates workplaces. My role often involves advising employers on how to respond swiftly to allegations and remove perpetrators from the workplace, and when to refer matters to police. I've observed how easily offenders move between employers, avoiding accountability. In some cases, I've dealt with the same individual being terminated by two different employers. This is often enabled by deeds of release containing confidentiality clauses, which prevent former employers from sharing critical information, including allegations of serious misconduct. There is a smorgasbord of legal actions an employee can bring against an employer in Australia, including unfair dismissal laws covering any employee who earns under $183,100 and general protections claims that apply to every employee even during probationary periods. So contractual release agreements are often a practical way to resolve employment disputes. But what concerns me is when confidentiality and non-disparagement clauses – a convenient tool for getting rid of bad employees – are used with people who are clearly unfit to work with children. By preventing employers from disclosing the reasons for an employee's departure, these can conceal serious or criminal behaviour, leaving future employers in the dark. The problem of gag orders has gone unaddressed for too long. The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse was critical in 2017 of how some schools were concealing worker misconduct by using confidentiality clauses to protect their reputation in settlement agreements. The royal commission also found that non-disparagement clauses were preventing employers from giving negative references about former employees, allowing individuals who posed a risk to children to move between institutions undetected. Similar clauses are still used widely by some employers today. Employers must stop including, or accepting, confidentiality clauses in exit agreements where there are concerns about safety risks posed by a worker and ensure accountability and transparency. If that means the employer might need to defend an unfair dismissal claim, so be it. Employers can't risk enabling further misconduct or abuse. And it's not just the childcare sector that attracts perpetrators. I once acted for an aged care provider after allegations of sexual misconduct and sexual assault by a male worker emerged from elderly residents, most with dementia, and their families. Police confirmed a history of similar allegations at other facilities. After his dismissal, the worker filed an unfair dismissal claim. It was later revealed he had signed a deed of release with a former employer, preventing disclosure of earlier allegations.
The Advertiser
7 days ago
- The Advertiser
'Lack of willpower' stalls childcare safety reforms
A former royal commissioner has accused state and federal governments of dragging their feet on safeguards that could have protected childcare abuse victims. Federal authorities have promised to fast-track a national register for childcare workers after Melbourne educator Joshua Dale Brown, 26, was charged with more than 70 sex offences against eight alleged victims aged under two. The offences allegedly occurred at the G8-owned Creative Garden centre at Point Cook, in Melbourne's southwest, between April 2022 and January 2023. Authorities say Brown worked at 24 facilities since 2017. They have recommended an additional 800 children who crossed paths with him be tested for infectious diseases after identifying additional centres where he worked. Investigators have blamed a two-week delay in releasing his complete work history on childcare providers not having centralised records, requiring detectives to execute search warrants to obtain handwritten records, shift rosters and other critical information. The issue harked back to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, which in its 2017 final report found one of the great difficulties in most sectors dealing with children was poor record keeping and information sharing. Recommendations included the need for substantial improvement in teacher and worker registrations, an increase in the quality of institutions' record keeping, the ability to exchange information between facilities and for states and territories to keep better track of workers employed in their jurisdictions. Despite their acceptance of the recommendations, former royal commissioner Robert Fitzgerald said it had been difficult to get all nine governments led by the Commonwealth to act. "Ten years on from our recommendations around information sharing and record keeping, the job has not yet been done and it has not been done because the nine governments of Australia have not committed the willpower to get it done in a timely manner," Mr Fitzgerald told AAP. He accused some states and territories of being particularly slow in implementing significant recommendations. "These are all manageable. These are all achievable and my disappointment is that progress has been made, but the job should have been done," Mr Fitzgerald said. The former commissioner said every gap left in safeguarding the sector meant children were put at risk. Adequate record keeping and information sharing can inform subsequent employers of a history of concern, not necessarily convictions, and can provide authorities with an insight into any patterns of abuse. But the former commissioner has warned workers' rights can't be abandoned when it comes to sharing information about the conduct of individuals where there has been no substantiation of complaints or criminal action. The Victorian government has pledged to establish a register of early childhood educators in the next two months, which will link into the national registration system once it is established. 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028 A former royal commissioner has accused state and federal governments of dragging their feet on safeguards that could have protected childcare abuse victims. Federal authorities have promised to fast-track a national register for childcare workers after Melbourne educator Joshua Dale Brown, 26, was charged with more than 70 sex offences against eight alleged victims aged under two. The offences allegedly occurred at the G8-owned Creative Garden centre at Point Cook, in Melbourne's southwest, between April 2022 and January 2023. Authorities say Brown worked at 24 facilities since 2017. They have recommended an additional 800 children who crossed paths with him be tested for infectious diseases after identifying additional centres where he worked. Investigators have blamed a two-week delay in releasing his complete work history on childcare providers not having centralised records, requiring detectives to execute search warrants to obtain handwritten records, shift rosters and other critical information. The issue harked back to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, which in its 2017 final report found one of the great difficulties in most sectors dealing with children was poor record keeping and information sharing. Recommendations included the need for substantial improvement in teacher and worker registrations, an increase in the quality of institutions' record keeping, the ability to exchange information between facilities and for states and territories to keep better track of workers employed in their jurisdictions. Despite their acceptance of the recommendations, former royal commissioner Robert Fitzgerald said it had been difficult to get all nine governments led by the Commonwealth to act. "Ten years on from our recommendations around information sharing and record keeping, the job has not yet been done and it has not been done because the nine governments of Australia have not committed the willpower to get it done in a timely manner," Mr Fitzgerald told AAP. He accused some states and territories of being particularly slow in implementing significant recommendations. "These are all manageable. These are all achievable and my disappointment is that progress has been made, but the job should have been done," Mr Fitzgerald said. The former commissioner said every gap left in safeguarding the sector meant children were put at risk. Adequate record keeping and information sharing can inform subsequent employers of a history of concern, not necessarily convictions, and can provide authorities with an insight into any patterns of abuse. But the former commissioner has warned workers' rights can't be abandoned when it comes to sharing information about the conduct of individuals where there has been no substantiation of complaints or criminal action. The Victorian government has pledged to establish a register of early childhood educators in the next two months, which will link into the national registration system once it is established. 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028 A former royal commissioner has accused state and federal governments of dragging their feet on safeguards that could have protected childcare abuse victims. Federal authorities have promised to fast-track a national register for childcare workers after Melbourne educator Joshua Dale Brown, 26, was charged with more than 70 sex offences against eight alleged victims aged under two. The offences allegedly occurred at the G8-owned Creative Garden centre at Point Cook, in Melbourne's southwest, between April 2022 and January 2023. Authorities say Brown worked at 24 facilities since 2017. They have recommended an additional 800 children who crossed paths with him be tested for infectious diseases after identifying additional centres where he worked. Investigators have blamed a two-week delay in releasing his complete work history on childcare providers not having centralised records, requiring detectives to execute search warrants to obtain handwritten records, shift rosters and other critical information. The issue harked back to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, which in its 2017 final report found one of the great difficulties in most sectors dealing with children was poor record keeping and information sharing. Recommendations included the need for substantial improvement in teacher and worker registrations, an increase in the quality of institutions' record keeping, the ability to exchange information between facilities and for states and territories to keep better track of workers employed in their jurisdictions. Despite their acceptance of the recommendations, former royal commissioner Robert Fitzgerald said it had been difficult to get all nine governments led by the Commonwealth to act. "Ten years on from our recommendations around information sharing and record keeping, the job has not yet been done and it has not been done because the nine governments of Australia have not committed the willpower to get it done in a timely manner," Mr Fitzgerald told AAP. He accused some states and territories of being particularly slow in implementing significant recommendations. "These are all manageable. These are all achievable and my disappointment is that progress has been made, but the job should have been done," Mr Fitzgerald said. The former commissioner said every gap left in safeguarding the sector meant children were put at risk. Adequate record keeping and information sharing can inform subsequent employers of a history of concern, not necessarily convictions, and can provide authorities with an insight into any patterns of abuse. But the former commissioner has warned workers' rights can't be abandoned when it comes to sharing information about the conduct of individuals where there has been no substantiation of complaints or criminal action. The Victorian government has pledged to establish a register of early childhood educators in the next two months, which will link into the national registration system once it is established. 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028 A former royal commissioner has accused state and federal governments of dragging their feet on safeguards that could have protected childcare abuse victims. Federal authorities have promised to fast-track a national register for childcare workers after Melbourne educator Joshua Dale Brown, 26, was charged with more than 70 sex offences against eight alleged victims aged under two. The offences allegedly occurred at the G8-owned Creative Garden centre at Point Cook, in Melbourne's southwest, between April 2022 and January 2023. Authorities say Brown worked at 24 facilities since 2017. They have recommended an additional 800 children who crossed paths with him be tested for infectious diseases after identifying additional centres where he worked. Investigators have blamed a two-week delay in releasing his complete work history on childcare providers not having centralised records, requiring detectives to execute search warrants to obtain handwritten records, shift rosters and other critical information. The issue harked back to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, which in its 2017 final report found one of the great difficulties in most sectors dealing with children was poor record keeping and information sharing. Recommendations included the need for substantial improvement in teacher and worker registrations, an increase in the quality of institutions' record keeping, the ability to exchange information between facilities and for states and territories to keep better track of workers employed in their jurisdictions. Despite their acceptance of the recommendations, former royal commissioner Robert Fitzgerald said it had been difficult to get all nine governments led by the Commonwealth to act. "Ten years on from our recommendations around information sharing and record keeping, the job has not yet been done and it has not been done because the nine governments of Australia have not committed the willpower to get it done in a timely manner," Mr Fitzgerald told AAP. He accused some states and territories of being particularly slow in implementing significant recommendations. "These are all manageable. These are all achievable and my disappointment is that progress has been made, but the job should have been done," Mr Fitzgerald said. The former commissioner said every gap left in safeguarding the sector meant children were put at risk. Adequate record keeping and information sharing can inform subsequent employers of a history of concern, not necessarily convictions, and can provide authorities with an insight into any patterns of abuse. But the former commissioner has warned workers' rights can't be abandoned when it comes to sharing information about the conduct of individuals where there has been no substantiation of complaints or criminal action. The Victorian government has pledged to establish a register of early childhood educators in the next two months, which will link into the national registration system once it is established. 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028
West Australian
7 days ago
- West Australian
'Lack of willpower' stalls childcare safety reforms
A former royal commissioner has accused state and federal governments of dragging their feet on safeguards that could have protected childcare abuse victims. Federal authorities have promised to fast-track a national register for childcare workers after Melbourne educator Joshua Dale Brown, 26, was charged with more than 70 sex offences against eight alleged victims aged under two. The offences allegedly occurred at the G8-owned Creative Garden centre at Point Cook, in Melbourne's southwest, between April 2022 and January 2023. Authorities say Brown worked at 24 facilities since 2017. They have recommended an additional 800 children who crossed paths with him be tested for infectious diseases after identifying additional centres where he worked. Investigators have blamed a two-week delay in releasing his complete work history on childcare providers not having centralised records, requiring detectives to execute search warrants to obtain handwritten records, shift rosters and other critical information. The issue harked back to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, which in its 2017 final report found one of the great difficulties in most sectors dealing with children was poor record keeping and information sharing. Recommendations included the need for substantial improvement in teacher and worker registrations, an increase in the quality of institutions' record keeping, the ability to exchange information between facilities and for states and territories to keep better track of workers employed in their jurisdictions. Despite their acceptance of the recommendations, former royal commissioner Robert Fitzgerald said it had been difficult to get all nine governments led by the Commonwealth to act. "Ten years on from our recommendations around information sharing and record keeping, the job has not yet been done and it has not been done because the nine governments of Australia have not committed the willpower to get it done in a timely manner," Mr Fitzgerald told AAP. He accused some states and territories of being particularly slow in implementing significant recommendations. "These are all manageable. These are all achievable and my disappointment is that progress has been made, but the job should have been done," Mr Fitzgerald said. The former commissioner said every gap left in safeguarding the sector meant children were put at risk. Adequate record keeping and information sharing can inform subsequent employers of a history of concern, not necessarily convictions, and can provide authorities with an insight into any patterns of abuse. But the former commissioner has warned workers' rights can't be abandoned when it comes to sharing information about the conduct of individuals where there has been no substantiation of complaints or criminal action. The Victorian government has pledged to establish a register of early childhood educators in the next two months, which will link into the national registration system once it is established. 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028
Perth Now
7 days ago
- Perth Now
'Lack of willpower' stalls childcare safety reforms
A former royal commissioner has accused state and federal governments of dragging their feet on safeguards that could have protected childcare abuse victims. Federal authorities have promised to fast-track a national register for childcare workers after Melbourne educator Joshua Dale Brown, 26, was charged with more than 70 sex offences against eight alleged victims aged under two. The offences allegedly occurred at the G8-owned Creative Garden centre at Point Cook, in Melbourne's southwest, between April 2022 and January 2023. Authorities say Brown worked at 24 facilities since 2017. They have recommended an additional 800 children who crossed paths with him be tested for infectious diseases after identifying additional centres where he worked. Investigators have blamed a two-week delay in releasing his complete work history on childcare providers not having centralised records, requiring detectives to execute search warrants to obtain handwritten records, shift rosters and other critical information. The issue harked back to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, which in its 2017 final report found one of the great difficulties in most sectors dealing with children was poor record keeping and information sharing. Recommendations included the need for substantial improvement in teacher and worker registrations, an increase in the quality of institutions' record keeping, the ability to exchange information between facilities and for states and territories to keep better track of workers employed in their jurisdictions. Despite their acceptance of the recommendations, former royal commissioner Robert Fitzgerald said it had been difficult to get all nine governments led by the Commonwealth to act. "Ten years on from our recommendations around information sharing and record keeping, the job has not yet been done and it has not been done because the nine governments of Australia have not committed the willpower to get it done in a timely manner," Mr Fitzgerald told AAP. He accused some states and territories of being particularly slow in implementing significant recommendations. "These are all manageable. These are all achievable and my disappointment is that progress has been made, but the job should have been done," Mr Fitzgerald said. The former commissioner said every gap left in safeguarding the sector meant children were put at risk. Adequate record keeping and information sharing can inform subsequent employers of a history of concern, not necessarily convictions, and can provide authorities with an insight into any patterns of abuse. But the former commissioner has warned workers' rights can't be abandoned when it comes to sharing information about the conduct of individuals where there has been no substantiation of complaints or criminal action. The Victorian government has pledged to establish a register of early childhood educators in the next two months, which will link into the national registration system once it is established. 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028
