To:
The Hon Jason Clare MP, Minister for Education
Senator the Hon Dr Jess Walsh, Minister for Early Childhood Education

1 Background

In the last five years alone multiple perpetrators have used their role in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) to access or be alone with very young children and perpetrate serious sexual abuse:

• Joshua Dale Brown (26) is before the courts on 70 offences against eight children aged five months–two years, after working in 20 centres across Victoria despite a valid Working With Children Check (WWCC) 
• A Gold Coast educator pleaded guilty to 307 charges involving almost 70 children in Queensland and Italy (2003-2022) and is now serving life.
• Quoc Phu Tong was jailed for sexually touching a preschool boy on Sydney’s Northern Beaches in 2023.
• Two NSW men, including a former childcare worker, were sentenced in May 2024 to a combined 63 years over 354 offences against 30 children. 

These cases show predators can and do exploit moments of seclusion or when they are the only adult present with children.

2 The legislative gap

Current legislation requires maintaining minimum educator-to-child ratios (R 123), adequate supervision (s 165) and “every reasonable precaution to prevent harm” (s 167) but sets no explicit limit on a sole educator being left with a group of children.

In 2022-23 those very sections were the two most-breached provisions nationally—33 % of confirmed breaches related to s 167 and 22 % to s 165. 

While this sets minimum thresholds, it does not prevent a single educator from being left alone with up to four infants or five toddlers at any time.

ACECQA’s own Guide to the NQF acknowledges that “Educator-to-child ratios alone do not achieve adequate supervision.” 

The recent Review of Child Safety Arrangements under the NQF and the 2025 Independent Review of the NSW Regulatory Authority each highlight persistent complexities and loopholes in child-protection reporting that frontline staff struggle to navigate.

This confusion doesn’t just delay or derail proper reporting, it creates an environment where gaps can be exploited, and opportunities for harm go undetected or unchallenged. Predators benefit from being unsupervised, on ambiguity, and on the hesitancy of others to report or intervene. Without clear, enforceable boundaries, like the one proposed in this petition, abuse can happen - and has.

3 What we are asking for

We call on the Education Ministers to amend the Education and Care Services National Law and Regulations so that:

No educator caring for children under the age of three may be left alone with those children for longer than 15 consecutive minutes.

4 Why

Requiring two educators to be present at all times acts as a structural safeguard against abuse. Predators thrive in isolation; when no witnesses are present, the opportunity for abuse or grooming increases significantly. By mandating dual supervision, we remove the conditions that enable predatory behaviour.

This oversight reduces not only the likelihood of abuse, but also creates a culture of mutual professionalism, where inappropriate behaviour is less likely to go unnoticed or unchallenged. In the event of an incident or allegation, services with robust supervision protocols are better positioned to demonstrate compliance, respond promptly, and protect both staff and children.

In addition, children under three are still developing the language, memory, and cognitive ability required to disclose abuse. These children often cannot verbalise what has happened to them, making early detection and prevention absolutely critical.

Lastly, the recent wave of abuse cases where educators with valid Working With Children Checks and glowing references were able to offend in multiple services has left families feeling betrayed and deeply anxious.

Simply meeting the minimum legal requirements is no longer enough. To rebuild confidence, the sector must go beyond to demonstrate a clear, proactive commitment to child safety. By embedding this safeguard into law, we give parents a reason to believe in the system again. 

5 Our call to action

We, the undersigned, urge Ministers Clare and Walsh to:

Table amendments to the National Law/Regulations before the end of 2025. Specifically, we propose the insertion of a new regulation as follows:

Regulation 123A – Minimum Supervision Requirement for Children Under 3 Years of Age
(1) An approved provider must ensure that at least two educators are physically present at all times when providing education and care to children under the age of three years, except where subsection (2) applies.

(2) An educator may be left alone with children under three years of age for no longer than 15 consecutive minutes, and only where this is unavoidable and documented (e.g. in the event of an emergency or to support a child in distress).

(3) Approved providers must maintain records of staffing arrangements that demonstrate compliance with this requirement.