THE disappearance of four-year-old British girl Madeleine McCann from a holiday apartment in Portugal last month while her parents were dining close by, sent waves of horror around the world.

 

No parent who has been touched by the McCann family's plight will ever be tempted to risk leaving the children alone while on holidays. Unless parents are prepared to keep their children by their sides at all times, the answer is to find quality child care - but that's easier said than done.

 

Child-care centres in hotels and resorts in Australia are not bound by the same strict regulations as long-day-care centres. The situation with child care overseas is even more variable. This was tragically proven when Australian children were sexually abused in two separate incidents in Bali. In 2001, a three-year-old girl was sexually abused and contracted gonorrhoea at a creche at a Nusa Dua hotel. Two years later, a five-year-old West Australian boy was allegedly orally raped at a nearby resort.

 

Following those cases, the Australian Government came under pressure to provide a list of hotels not up to Australian child-care standards on its Smartraveller website (www.smartraveller.gov.au). However, it refused, saying it would be impossible to keep track of them all. Instead, its advice to parents was to "research and satisfy themselves regarding the standards of security, care and staff training of those establishments". So how exactly do parents find safe care for their children if they want to go out to dinner, or have a peaceful afternoon while on holiday?

 

The only way is to ask questions, questions, and more questions, says Lisa Cox, a child protection specialist working with Child Wise, an Australian charity which works to prevent child abuse.

 

In Australia, all child-care workers, including those in holiday resorts, are required to pass a Working with Children Check, but overseas it's possible that no such checks exist. In that case, parents will need to find out what sort of qualifications or training the person has, if they have references, how long they have been employed and whether they have come from an agency, Cox says.

 

While studies have shown that about 94 per cent of child sex offenders are men, that doesn't mean parents can be complacent if there are female carers. Research done by Child Wise on the profile of female sex offenders found almost all were abusive in the context of babysitting or child care.

Cox said it was worth questioning the hotel or resort to see if they had a code of conduct in relation to child care, and if they had any policies on prevention of child abuse.

 

"Parents should also assess how welcome they are in the facility, and whether they are open to parents attending at any time," Cox said.

Child Wise is trying to improve child safety in resorts and hotels overseas by conducting a series of child protection workshops. So far, workshops have been held in Bali and Fiji (a list of participating hotels can be seen at http://www.smartraveller.gov.au/children/childwise.html).

Wendy Buckley, managing director of Travel with Kidz, which specialises in family holidays, agrees that parents cannot assume that because an overseas hotel is five-star, it will have qualified child-care staff.

 

"You have to ask for qualifications, and whether carers have a first-aid certificate and Working with Children Check [or equivalent]," she says.

Buckley adds that if parents leave their children in care while on holidays, they should be in phone contact at all times. "You can't wander off into the bush," she says.

 

CHECK IT OUT

 

Questions to ask before leaving your child in care while on holidays:

 

* What screening procedures are in place for staff? Have they had a police check or the equivalent of a Working With Children Check?

* What kind of reference checks are conducted for staff? What are their qualifications? How long have they been working with the hotel? Are they paid professionals or volunteers?

* Does the hotel have a code of conduct for its child-care staff?

* Does the hotel have policies on child protection and a process for managing complaints?

* Are parents welcome to visit the centre at any time?

Source: Child Wise