Appeal to Greens Senators about childcare accreditation

1/2/94

Community Development Minister Roger Nicholls has appealed to the WA Greens Senators to save Western Australian parents and the child care industry from the shambles that is about to emerge from the National Childcare Accreditation Council.

Mr Nicholls said that the two Greens Senators had previously sided with the Labor Government to introduce this new form of bureaucratic control of child care, but they would get another chance in the Senate this week to put a stop to the Government's ill-considered and unnecessary policy.

The Greens had previously argued that the need for accountability for government money paid to parents in fee relief justified such heavy-handed intervention.

Subsequently, reports from the Law Reform Commission, the Australian Privacy Foundation, and other bodies had revealed that because the National Childcare Accreditation Council had been set up under the Associations Incorporation Act, it would not have to meet the major accountability standards applied to Government departments and agencies.

Specific areas in which the NCAC would not be accountable included:

·   the provisions of the Privacy Act;

·   the normal right of appeals against its decisions;

·   the Freedom of Information Act; and

·   the scrutiny of the Auditor-General.  

The NCAC would hold detailed information about children, their behaviour, their homelife, their parents' employment and income, and even about suspected child abuse or neglect, but it would not be subject to the Privacy Act and the Privacy Commissioner.

It would also hold considerable information about the income and operations of child care businesses, but the only redress against misuse of the information would be costly and uncertain common law actions.

Studies by consulting accountants in New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland had revealed that the cost of child care would rise, depending on various circumstances, by between $18 and $69 per child per week.

This was enough to bankrupt most child care businesses or to make it difficult or even impossible for many parents to continue to use child care.

Mr Nicholls said he believed that no comparable study had been done in Western Australia, but it was expected that similar cost increases would occur.

Most of the increases arose from additional staff costs, but these were for administrative and bureaucratic purposes, not for improvements in the direct care of children.

"The NCAC's guidelines are fundamentally wrong because the Government is using them to impose beliefs and attitudes on parents under threat of serious financial loss if they do not comply," Mr Nicholls said.

"If the Greens and the Democrats are not willing to join the Liberal and National Party Senators in defending these principles, they must surely be prepared to put a stop to such a scandalous lack of accountability.

"The Senate will vote this week on a motion to disallow the NCAC's guidelines.

"It will be a crucial test to see whether the basic rights of parents, children and small businesses mean anything to the WA Greens."

Media contact:  Hugh Ryan 221 5468