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An Australian company founded by a survivor of childhood abuse is bringing a machine-learning system to childcare centres to flag children who may be at risk of harm, as the sector grapples with balancing young people\u2019s privacy against a need to keep them safe.<\/p>\n
The warning system\u2019s rollout in daycares across the country comes as the sector undergoes its biggest safety overhaul since the national quality framework began.<\/p>\n
The company says its eponymously named SAFE system is already in use in more than 1000 early childhood services. Educators log everyday observations \u2013 a bruise, a missed meal, a parent affected by drugs at pick-up \u2013 and the machine-learning model turns those fragments into a live picture of which children may be most at risk. Parents are not asked to opt in; the company says consent is given when families enrol their kids to a daycare and agree to its professional systems.<\/p>\n
Chief executive Ruby O\u2019Rourke, a longtime children\u2019s rights campaigner who ran for federal parliament in 2019, built the company after a childhood shaped by forced adoption, domestic violence and abuse that, she says, culminated in a family member holding her under the water at a Melbourne creek. Passersby revived her. The family member was never charged.<\/p>\n
Her argument is that none of it was invisible. \u201cThe schools, the Brownies, the Girl Guides, all of these signals were missed,\u201d she said. Neighbours told her years later that they had heard her scream, and done nothing.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I\u2019m going to leave my life with anything,\u201d she said, \u201cit\u2019s knowing the next generation has this layer of SAFE sitting under the surface\u201d \u2013 what she calls a \u201cflight control tower\u201d for children at severe risk.<\/p>\n
O\u2019Rourke began building childcare software in the mid-2000s; the predictive layer started in 2012 with NICTA, the country\u2019s former information and communications technology research centre that is now part of the CSIRO.<\/p>\n
Co-founder David Salajan describes SAFE as a machine paired with human reviewers.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just an observation, no matter how big or small,\u201d he said. The software returns a risk score and guidance on whether a concern meets the mandatory reporting threshold; every case is then reviewed by former child protection workers. A national dashboard, seen by SAFE\u2019s team rather than the daycare centre staff, triages every case so they can see which children are at highest risk.<\/p>\n
The pitch lands at a volatile moment for the childcare sector. Changes to national laws governing the industry took effect on February 27, making children\u2019s safety the paramount legal consideration, creating a workers\u2019 register and mandating carers to attend child safety training by August 27. A $226 million government package also funds a national CCTV trial.<\/p>\n
The overhaul follows recent abuse cases such as that of Queensland worker Ashley Paul Griffith, jailed for life in 2024 over 307 offences against 73 children. In Sydney, daycare worker Hamish Alexander Edward Tait was arrested last month, facing more than 320 charges over his alleged abuse of 150 children under his care.<\/p>\n
Those cases involved alleged abuse at childcare centres though, rather than abuse elsewhere detected by an educator. The SAFE system also raises privacy concerns: a private company holds a live, prioritised register of children it deems most at risk, plus behavioural records on about 200,000 workers in the childcare industry.<\/p>\n
The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner would not comment on SAFE, but a spokesperson said behavioural information about a child in a care setting may count as personal \u2013 and sometimes sensitive \u2013 information under the Privacy Act, carrying obligations to collect only what is necessary, keep it secure and not reuse it. Whether an enrolment agreement amounts to valid consent depends on how it is worded, the spokesperson said, adding that consent should be \u201cinformed, current, specific and voluntary\u201d, especially for children\u2019s information.<\/p>\n
The regulator is also drawing up a Children\u2019s Online Privacy Code, due by December 10, expected to cover most online services used in early childhood settings. It would require information to be handled in a child\u2019s best interests, with a parent\u2019s consent necessary for children under 15.<\/p>\n