“They’re aware of behaviours before they escalate, which is crucial. Staff are picking up some of the grooming-type behaviours earlier and have robust systems in place. That’s a positive thing.”
About 4000 organisations are bound by WA’s Reportable Conduct Scheme. The ombudsman’s office oversees how the organisation handles the matter and refers potential criminal offences to police.
Cameron said one of the most important notifications was for sexual misconduct, which captured grooming or inappropriate communication that did not meet the threshold for criminal charges, but could be an early warning sign.
She said a childcare employee who was reported for his grooming behaviour at a childcare facility in regional WA resigned shortly afterwards, before resurfacing 400 kilometres away at another regional service.
“The reporting scheme has closed a gap that previously allowed alleged perpetrators to move undetected between employers,” Cameron said.
“Because every organisation must report to us, we could see it was the same individual.
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“Police couldn’t act, but we could alert the Working with Children Check unit to prevent that person from continuing to work with children.”
Cameron said no criminal charges had been laid in the 2024-25 childcare sexual-offence matters, and confidentiality provisions prevented further detail being released.
In August, attorneys general across the country agreed to “close gaps” related to working with children checks, which allowed potential child abusers to work across jurisdictions.
Federal and state governments have also agreed to put in place national Child Safe Standards by 2026, which set out how organisations that work with children must create safe environments.
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