Australian childcare operator to install CCTV after abuse claims

One of Australia's largest private childcare operators will speed up the rollout of CCTV across more than 400 centres, days after child sex abuse allegations against an employee emerged.

G8 Education will also let parents and carers choose who can change their children's nappies and take them to the toilet, the firm said.

Joshua Dale Brown, 26, is charged with more than 70 offences, including child rape, allegedly committed against eight children at a G8 Education-owned centre in Melbourne between 2022 and 2023.

The firm's boss said the allegations were "deeply disturbing" and apologised for the "unimaginable pain caused to our families".

The Australian-listed company operates almost two dozen childcare centre brands and employs about 10,000 staff who look after about 41,000 children.

In an announcement on Tuesday, the company's managing director Pejman Okhovat said it will also commission an independent review of the allegations against Brown once the police investigation and criminal proceedings have finished.

"Our primary focus right now is on supporting all families who are impacted, as well as our team members in Victoria," he said.

The rollout of CCTV across all of G8 Education's centres will be "accelerated" and comes after a trial at some locations, the firm said, but it did not give a timeline on the rollout.

"While installation will take time, we are committed to transparency and will keep our families and team informed with timely updates as more information becomes available," a company spokesperson said.

Asked if families and staff will have to give consent before being monitored, the company said it understands "the importance of adhering to child safety, child dignity, privacy and data protection requirements".

The company will also "commit to adherence with all relevant privacy laws and sector regulations and the adoption of best practice cyber security measures", it added.

The spokesperson did not say who will operate the CCTV systems, who will have access to the footage or how long the footage will be stored.

For child safety expert and ex-detective Kristi McVee, CCTV "will only be as good as the humans who manage it".

"It can be circumvented and evidence can be destroyed to protect the interests of the organisation," she told the BBC.

In the case of Ashley Paul Griffiths - currently serving a life sentence for raping and sexually abusing almost 70 young girls in childcare centres in Australia and overseas - CCTV at the centres where he worked did not act as a deterrent, McVee said.

Professor Daryl Higgins, who heads Australian Catholic University's Institute of Child Protection Studies, echoed those concerns.

"It's not a silver bullet," Professor Higgins said, "and would require significant consultation about if, where, how and why we'd implement it".

"Who would view the footage and how would it be used?" he asked.

Martyn Mills-Bayne, a senior lecturer in early childhood education at the University of South Australia, worries CCTV will provide a "false sense of security" and allow operators to delay better measures such as increasing staff ratios.

He also said that giving parents and carers the option to choose who changes nappies and takes children to the toilets may put extra pressure on female workers and could lead to gender discrimination in hiring processes.

Investigations into Brown's alleged offences found he had worked at 20 childcare centres - including centres not operated by G8 Education - between 2017 and his arrest in May this year.

This prompted health authorities to ask the families of about 1,200 children who had been under Brown's care at those centres to undergo testing for infectious diseases.

The tests were a "precaution", authorities said. The allegations against Brown also prompted state and federal governments to promise more stringent staff checks and regulations in the childcare sector.

Brown is accused of child rape and sexual assault offences as well as producing and transmitting child abuse material, relating to children between the ages of five months and two years old.

He is yet to enter a plea, but has been remanded in custody and is due to appear at Melbourne Magistrates' Court in September.