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Thousands of students are getting fast-tracked qualifications to work in childcare centres and it's compromising safety standards, experts warn.
Some of these courses are being used as visa pathways, some stripped of substance, others entirely fake. Education providers are cashing in, pumping out tens of thousands of students — some with no prior childcare experience — and pushing them into centres with minimal oversight.
A cache of regulatory documents has also revealed widespread gaps in basic care: educators not understanding child protection policies, mandatory reporting duties, or even safe sleep and hygiene practices.
Some childcare centre staff were failing to report serious incidents due to a lack of understanding of the rules and obligations.
Last week, the arrest of Melbourne childcare worker Joshua Dale Brown, charged with more than 70 child abuse offences involving children as young as five months, triggered emergency crisis talks and promises of urgent reform from state and federal governments.
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Millions of dollars in fees, minimum interest in childcare
To become an early childhood teacher in Australia, a four-year degree is typical. But some providers are offering graduate diplomas that take as little as 10 months to complete, with no prior teaching or childcare experience required.
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'Quantity over quality'
Educators, experts and parents say the consequences of substandard training are playing out in childcare centres across the country, from poor supervision to unsafe practices and serious breaches in care.
Some of SCU's students have been terminated or asked to leave by various centres, or have been put on an action plan and possible deferment of a placement during their 30-day placements after the centre reported incidents, including falling asleep during shifts, ignoring distressed children, and engaging in inappropriate physical contact.
Documents seen by 7.30 refer to one student caught trying to take children into private spaces unsupervised.
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Cold calls over teaching?
The concerns go far beyond the classroom.
Leaked emails and whistleblower testimony reveal how SCU enrolled so many students in the past two years that it struggled to find enough childcare placements for students, which is a compulsory component of the course.
In May, staff were told the situation had become a "significant crisis" threatening the viability of the university's education faculty. At the time, the university needed to place 400 students for May and another 2,381 by July.
Centres were offered incentives to take more students and the staff who made the most calls won a gift card.
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'A cash cow for universities'
Former educator Lynette Rieck, now a trainer and assessor, agrees. She has worked in childcare for 35 years and says the quality of graduates and educators has never been lower.
"The only way we're going to get enough educators through is by dropping the standards," Ms Rieck said. "But the people who pay the price are the children."
She says for-profit centres are the key problem, offering low pay, poor training, and little oversight.
"If you don't invest in your educators, you can't expect quality care. It's not complicated," she said.
'Our life was shattered'
The consequences of poor quality education can be devastating.
In July 2018, Jozef Maragol's 16-month-old daughter, Arianna, was found unresponsive at a Sydney childcare centre.
"The call came and I was told that we have found Arianna unresponsive and we are currently performing CPR and that the ambulance is taking her to Westmead Children's Hospital," Mr Maragol said.
Arianna later died in hospital. Since then Jozef has been trying to get answers.
"We had to get a legal team to work with us to start finding out what happened to her," he said.
The centre's sleep policy, on paper, exceeded national benchmarks that require staff to check on children every 10 to 15 minutes. He said CCTV footage revealed Arianna had been left alone for a long period of time and was done via a screen rather than physical checks, which makes it harder to see the colour of the skin or a child breathing.
He later learned that the centre's sleep practices had been flagged years earlier by an inspector visiting the centre, who noted an educator was doing sleep checks via a screen.
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At a tipping point
SCU declined 7.30's interview request and did not respond to detailed questions about enrolment numbers, staff turnover, student distress, or course quality and placement issues.
In a statement it said the graduate diploma is a "rigorous, high-quality program" attracting strong interest, and that it is fully accredited by the national higher education regulator, the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA), and the Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA).
In the past year the TEQSA has received a series of complaints from staff and students about SCU's early education courses.
TEQSA has launched a probe into Southern Cross University. In a statement it confirmed it has launched "live compliance" processes into SCU earlier this year. It said these findings would inform a separate review of the university's re-registration, which was currently underway.
As the sector struggles to fill tens of thousands of vacancies, experts say Australia is at a tipping point.
"We don't want a system where we just hot house children in services so their parents can go to work," Professor Fenech said.
"We need early learning environments that are going to give children the foundation for success in life that they need."
While there are good educators, good students and good childcare centres, experts say they are being let down by a broken system.
"I believe in children's rights to a quality early childhood education. I've read the evidence about how critical those early years are," Professor Fenech said.