The Victorian government has launched an urgent review into safety in the childcare sector after a worker was charged with more than 70 sex offences against babies and toddlers.

Australia’s childcare system was plunged into further crisis this week after Victoria Police revealed it had charged Joshua Dale Brown, 26, with dozens of offences for abusing eight children between the ages of five months and two years old at a childcare centre in Melbourne’s outer western suburbs between April 2022 and January 2023.