Senator Matt O’Sullivan
Shadow Minister for Choice in Childcare and Early Learning
Shadow Minister for Child Protection and the Prevention of Family Violence
Deputy Manager of Opposition Business
Senator for Western Australia
Media Release
7 September 2026
As Australia marks National Child Protection Week, NSW Police have warned that some childcare centres may be putting their financial interests ahead of their legal obligation to report suspected child abuse.
Detective Superintendent Linda Howlett, Commander of the NSW Police Child Abuse Squad, warned more offending was happening than what was being reported.
These are not new concerns. In August 2025, Howlett gave evidence before a NSW parliamentary inquiry that workers feared losing their jobs for reporting suspected abuse, while services feared losing families and damage to their reputation.
The Albanese government cannot dismiss this as simply a matter for state and territory governments.
The Commonwealth has a significant regulatory role, provides the sector with billions of dollars in Child Care Subsidy funding every year, and helps shape the National Quality Framework.
Ironically, the Prime Minister is busy spruiking his new Online Safety Bill this week, arguing for stronger penalties to prevent online platforms from choosing “company profits over child safety”.
That same standard must apply to tax-payer funder childcare providers. Yet Labor remains missing in action.
To this day, the Minister for Early Childhood Education has failed to publicly apologise to families affected by the recent horrific abuse in the childcare sector or provide the leadership and reassurance Australian families deserve.
The Minister must immediately examine whether CCS-approved providers are complying with their mandatory reporting obligations.
Any provider found to be deliberately concealing suspected child abuse must face serious consequences, including losing their CCS approval.
Where individuals have deliberately neglected their mandatory reporting obligations, they should be referred for criminal prosecution where appropriate.
There can be no trade-off between child safety and a childcare provider’s bottom line.
Parents deserve confidence that every allegation of suspected abuse will be reported and investigated, not weighed against a provider’s reputation and financial interests.
[ENDS]