Transcript - Weekend Today with Tim Davies and Alison Piotrowski

TIM DAVIES, CO-HOST: Early educators across the nation will now close from 5pm multiple times a year, so that staff can undergo mandatory child safety training. For more, Education Minister Jason Clare joins us now live in Sydney. Minister, thanks for your time. This will come into effect in February alongside the mandatory training. Can you detail how this is going to work?

JASON CLARE, MINISTER FOR EDUCATION: Yeah, thanks very much, guys. Well, there's nothing more important than the safety of our kids and that's what this is all about. I think Australians were sickened and shocked when they heard the revelations of the alleged incidents that happened in Victoria and NSW this year. I said at the time that not enough action had been taken or quick enough. We put together a package with the states that involves banning phones in childcare centres, a national register of workers in centres, a trial of CCTV in centres, but also this mandatory training of the workers in our centres to be able to spot somebody who might be hiding in plain sight, that's up to no good. And the best way to get this training done and make sure it's done properly is to get it done in the centre. And so that's what this will be about from February next year, having the training done after five o' clock in the centre where the workers are paid, where they can do it together, to make sure that they get all the skills that they need to be able to spot somebody that might be grooming a child or even grooming them, and know what to do when they find somebody doing this.

ALISON PIOTROWSKI, CO-HOST: And I think you'd be hard pressed to find a single parent around the country that isn't all for this training. So, important, I guess, mandatory training, you're doing it on the job. Shouldn't it have been done beforehand? I mean, people going into childcare centres to work, shouldn't they already have been aware about how to spot predators?

CLARE: That already does happen at TAFE and at university, with the university course. But we've got a workforce that's been in the system for maybe five or ten or fifteen or twenty years. So, this helps to update their skills, but also to take it to the next level. And I'm really conscious, Ali, that this is going to be a bit of an inconvenience for mums and dads across the country. You know, I know it as a parent who picks up my little guy as well, but I've also got a guy in primary school and I know what student free days are like where teachers do professional development. This is a bit the same, but instead of the whole day, it's going to be after 5 o'clock. It is a small inconvenience, but I hope most mums and dads will agree with me that there is nothing more important than our kids or the safety of our kids. And I'm determined to make sure that we get this right. The workers in our centres, 99.9% of them are fantastic. They look after our kids, they educate our kids, they're keeping our kids safe. They're the best asset we've got here, but we've got to make sure they've got all the skills they need to keep our kids safe. And that's what this training is about.

DAVIES: It's obviously going to come at a cost for centres as well, but also for parents and their employers. How open are you, Minister? And how open is the government to potentially looking at perhaps having this training on a uniform date across the country so that all parents, all bosses, know that they're all in the same boat, essentially? Would that help minimise the effect?

CLARE: Well, I think flexibility is the key here. You know, some centres will do it on one day, some on another. You know, not all parents have their children in care five days a week, so it won't affect all parents the same. So, for some parents, they'll see this happen five days out of the next 12 months. For some, it will be less. We're investing $40 million into this to make sure that the training is done properly at the centres as part of the Child Care Subsidy. But I think the best way to make sure that this happens is to do it at the centre and to have the centres work with parents about the days of the week that they do it.

DAVIES: Okay.

PIOTROWSKI: Alright, why don't we move on to some lighter news, Minister, we saw the PM tie the knot yesterday. Why weren't you there?

CLARE: Yeah, I was actually at the School Spectacular in Sydney, which was absolutely spectacular. But I did go and see the boss on Thursday to say g'day and to congratulate him. It's just, you know, anybody that's tied the knot knows just how special that day is. And to fall in love with somebody and have them love you back, you can't ask for much else in this world, can you?

DAVIES: You weren't invited. But did you get a present for him at least? What did you get him?

CLARE: Well, maybe that's to come.

DAVIES: Black Friday sales.

PIOTROWSKI: All right, Minister, thanks for your time this morning. We appreciate it.