Thousands of previously unseen documents have revealed allegations of child sexual assault, inappropriate discipline, and missing children in the Australian Capital Territory's childcare sector. The documents, obtained by the ABC, were tabled in the ACT Legislative Assembly after a parliamentary motion forced the territory regulator to make public notifications of breaches of national law and its responses.
The documents, covering the last five years from the regulator Childhood Education and Care Assurance (CECA), include more than 2,400 reports. One case involved a child hospitalized after possibly ingesting a death cap mushroom on childcare grounds, prompting a public health alert. In another, two eight-year-old boys alleged an unknown man attempted to lure them from an after-school care service.
Allegations against educators include shutting a three-year-old in a shed, slapping a child across the face, kicking a child's bed to wake them, and vaping in a play area. One educator who allegedly threatened to stab a 13-year-old girl was found with a mobile phone storing images of young children, though not sexual in nature, and admitted to paraphilia. Another educator was investigated for pulling a child's hair and forcibly moving a child by the neck; a third was charged with assault after throwing a child face-first onto a soft surface and later alleged to possess child exploitation material.
Cases of missing children include a one-year-old found alone at pick-up and a five-year-old who had a near miss with a motorbike after escaping preschool. A batch of 22 briefs shared with Education Minister Yvette Berry revealed serious breaches, including an educator who touched a child's genitals; police investigated but the family declined prosecution, though CECA found a similar complaint six years earlier, leading to the educator's prohibition from the sector.
The documents also detail inappropriate sexualized behavior between children, such as a nine-year-old instructing two six-year-olds to undress and press genitals together, and a child who grabbed another and pulled her towards his groin. Minister Berry stated that nothing is more important than children's safety. The documents are set to be uploaded to the assembly website this week.
