Horrific allegations of child sexual abuse in childcare centres across Melbourne have put the role of men in early childhood education back in the spotlight.

Coming after other major media reports of child mistreatment in care, many parents are feeling very anxious about the safety of their children.

Some may be deeply suspicious of men working so closely with children. That caution is totally justified.

But there are many innocent, well-intentioned and caring men working in centres across the country. They’re playing a vital role in a sector already plagued by well-documented staff shortages.

Driving them out of the workforce would be a mistake for the sector, for parents and for children.

Hyper-viligant behaviour 

Men are still a rarity in childcare centres nationally.

The latest workforce data show about 8 per cent of early childhood educators are male, though that statistic could include men who don’t work with children directly.

We don’t know precisely how many early childhood educators are male, but best estimates are somewhere between 2–4 per cent of the total workforce.

Dr Martyn Mills-Bayne (left) taught in junior primary schools and preschools across Adelaide’s North and North-East suburbs

Given there are so few of them, male educators often report being hyper-vigilant about how they do their jobs.

I was once an early childhood teacher myself. Now in my academic research, I’ve spent almost 20 years mentoring men in the sector, including close to 100 male students coming through initial teacher education programs.

They are extremely aware of protecting children and themselves. They talk about trying to make sure they’re never alone with children and use distancing strategies to keep themselves safe and in full view of colleagues and parents.

If they’re changing nappies, they do so in open spaces, where others can see them. If a child is hurt or needs support, they often think twice about the most appropriate way to provide it.

The men I hear from feel they are surveilled and monitored more closely than their female colleagues. Male educators must use a heightened degree of caution in their day-to-day caring work due to broad (largely unspoken) suspicions of sexual misconduct. This is an inherent part of being a male early childhood educator.

There’s been no research done to determine whether men are watched more closely than women, but regardless, most don’t begrudge it. They fear ever harming a child, and would rather the extra supervision, perceived or real, to make everyone feel safer.

Leaving the sector 

Joshua Dale Brown, 26, is accused of abusing eight children aged between five months and two years at one daycare centre in Point Cook, Melbourne

Parents are feeling very anxious about the safety of their children following the alleged child abuse

But early childhood education has an issue with worker attrition.

This is especially concerning as pre-school for three-year-olds is rolled out in South Australia, Victoria and the ACT, increasing the demand for staff and pressure on services to meet staff ratios and keep children safe.

Against this backdrop, it’s crucial we stem the tide of workers leaving the sector, including men.

Unfortunately, men are often the first to leave, especially after cases of sexual abuse at other centres.

In New Zealand, Peter Ellis was jailed in the 1990s for child sexual abuse in a creche, though his conviction was overturned posthumously in 2022.

The high profile case had long lasting negative impacts. Less than 1% of the childcare workforce in the country are men – one of the lowest participation rates in the world.

Parental and societal concerns around the risk of abuse have a profound impact on retaining and attracting more male educators in early childhood education.

This is also true at the student level. Typically, I see very few men enrol to study early childhood education (about four in a cohort of 150), but only about half that graduate. Many of these potential early childhood teachers drop their studies or move into primary teaching programs after they experience a sense of distrust during their professional placements in childcare.

Keeping children safer 

Children who are abused experience lifelong trauma. Keeping them safe at all times should be the number one priority of educators and society at large.

The Melbourne case has left many parents rightly cautious and feeling uncertain about leaving their children in the care of men. We may well see less interest from centres in employing men, as has happened after similar cases in the past.

This would build on existing suspicions parents have of male educators.

There’s no easy answer to this. But there are some things that may make early education safer.

The first is to strengthen working with children screening checks, something the Victorian government has already flagged it will do.

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan has also announced a statewide register of childcare workers to introduce ‘an extra layer of checks and balances’.

Another is to ensure no educator, regardless of gender, is ever alone with a child. Though this may be challenging to achieve within tight staffing levels, it’s needed to prevent future abuse.

The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse highlighted the need to make sure the physical environment minimises opportunity for abuse to occur. This includes glass walls around toilet and nappy change areas and no blind spots in centres.

And finally, for parents to be scared and angry about this is to be human. But it’s also important to remember many men are doing the right thing, and male educators in the sector are also angry and concerned about this.

Better processes and regulations would help restore confidence in parents that their children are safe in a man’s care. But it would also help male educators, who can do their work safe in the knowledge they’ve passed a robust set of requirements to get there.

This article originally appeared on The Conversation. 

Dr Martyn Mills-Bayne is a senior lecturer in Early Childhood Education at the University of South Australia. He has taught Initial Teacher Education across early childhood and primary programs for over 17 years. Before becoming a university teacher educator, he taught in junior primary schools and preschools across Adelaide’s North and North-East suburbs.