06 Nov We built a playground for perpetrators. Here’s how to stop them
Disturbing new findings from ABC’s Four Corners expose how child predators have exploited weaknesses in Australia’s early learning system. Early childhood expert Dr Marg Rogers outlines the four conditions that let abuse thrive — and what needs to change to finally keep children safe.
Yet more allegations of child sexual abuse in Australia’s early childhood education and care services have surfaced. ABC’s Four Corners team, led by Adele Ferguson, uncovered further shocking cases after previous charges were laid against several educators. While we all want these stories to go away — because that would mean our children are safe — no one wants them buried more than the perpetrators. Child abuse thrives where people are naïve, secrets are kept, and neglect and ignorance are built into systems.
The investigation found that the rate of abuse in early education is rising. In the past decade, almost 150 educators have been convicted, charged, or accused of child sexual abuse or inappropriate conduct. Forty-two have been convicted — half of them in just the last five years — with 14 more cases currently before the courts.
How did we get here?
Australia’s early learning system costs taxpayers $22 billion a year, yet it has become a fertile playground for predators, with three reports of child abuse occurring every working day.
Perpetrators thrive in conditions marked by naivety, secrecy, neglect, and ignorance, as shown in the diagram below.
Here’s how to dismantle them.
Breaking naivety
When parents and educators don’t understand grooming, they can’t recognise it. Grooming is a crime — and it targets not only children but families, colleagues and communities. Perpetrators often appear helpful, caring and fun. They single out children who crave attention, shower them with praise, favours and “special” treatment, then slowly isolate them from trusted adults. Over time, they undermine the child’s confidence that they’ll be believed if they speak up.
Breaking secrecy
Abuse depends on silence. Offenders persuade children to keep secrets by threats, guilt or fear. We must teach children the difference between a surprise and a secret, help them name body parts, and empower them to report threats.
Adults can also enable secrecy by ignoring warning signs — whether from fear of being wrong, losing a job, or missing scarce childcare spots. A culture of speaking up must be stronger than the fear of consequences.
Breaking neglect
Low staff-to-child ratios and lax supervision have allowed safety to slip, driven by profit rather than children’s well-being. Services sometimes count non-supervising staff to meet legal ratios — a dangerous loophole. Reform is essential: enforce stricter ratios, impose penalties for breaches, and create a national childcare commission to ensure accountability.
Children also need a justice system that hears their voices. Most child sexual abuse goes unreported because giving evidence can retraumatise young victims.
Breaking ignorance
Common myths obscure the truth: perpetrators are not “mentally ill” or “unable to control themselves,” and they are not always men. Many exploit multiple children at once, manipulating systems and each other to avoid detection.
We’ve also been ignorant about how weak our regulatory systems are. Working With Children Checks can lapse or vary between states, and under-resourced regulators struggle to inspect services or follow up on breaches. Some for-profit providers with outstanding violations have even been allowed to open new centres.
Perpetrators are emboldened when the rules aren’t enforced and when society assumes “someone else” is watching.
Where to from here?
To restore trust, parents and educators need deep reform — not token tweaks. We must expose and dismantle the conditions that allow abuse to flourish: naivety, secrecy, neglect and ignorance.
Children deserve to be safe, and families deserve the confidence that early learning is a place for growth, not harm.
If this article has raised distressing issues for you, please contact:
Lifeline: 13 11 14
Kids Helpline: 1800 55 1800
Bravehearts: 1800 272 831
Beyond Blue: 1300 224 636
Blue Knot Helpline: 1300 657 380
Australian Childhood Foundation: 1300 381 581
1800 RESPECT: 1800 737 732
Marg Rogers is a Senior Lecturer in Early Childhood Education at the University of New England and a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Manna Institute.
