Appointment of Jay Weatherill to lead childcare inquiry ‘an insult to every ­Victorian family’, Opposition Leader Brad Battin says

A former Labor premier who oversaw the worst child ­protection failure in his state’s history has been chosen by Jacinta Allan to lead Victoria’s childcare inquiry.

A former Labor premier who oversaw the worst child ­protection failure in his state’s history – including a carer being convicted of abusing several pre-schoolers – has been hand-picked by Jacinta Allan to lead the inquiry into Victoria’s childcare sector.

Former South Australia premier Jay Weatherill faced calls to resign and was forced to apologise ­following a damning royal commission into a child protection system in “disarray” in SA.

Former South Australia premier Jay Weatherill faced calls to resign and was forced to apologise.

The inquiry was sparked by the arrest of pedophile carer Shannon McCoole, who abused seven children – boys and girls aged 18 months to three – and was the ringleader of the largest online child-abuse forum in the world at the time.

This included McCoole being cleared to work after an initial investigation into inappropriate behaviour involving a female toddler.

But Ms Allan on Thursday announced Mr Weatherill would carry out Victoria’s ­urgent review into the childcare sector in the wake of sex-abuse charges against worker Joshua Brown.

Mr Weatherill would work alongside Pamela White, chair of the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority.

The royal commission found the child protection system was in ‘disarray’ in SA.

The inquiry was sparked by the arrest of pedophile carer Shannon McCoole.

McCoole was cleared to work after an initial investigation into inappropriate behaviour involving a female toddler.

Ms Allan said Mr Weatherill was “recognised for his leadership in early childhood and tertiary education”.

It is unclear how much he will be paid.

Opposition Leader Brad Battin slammed Mr Weatherill’s appointment as “an insult to every ­Victorian family”.

“Weatherill himself presided over South Australia’s worst child protection disaster, his government ­ignored warnings that led to a crisis,” he said.

Brad Battin said Mr Weatherill’s appointment is ‘an insult to every ­Victorian family’. Picture: Nadir Kinani

“How can Victorians trust Jacinta Allan and Labor to protect our kids when they’re recycling the same failed leadership that let children down before?”

Mr Battin said Mr Weatherill’s appointment was proof of another “insider-led process” aimed at protecting the government, not children.

“This is one of the worst child protection failures in decades. It demands urgent, independent action – not ­another insider-led process designed to protect the government rather than protect kids.

“What exactly are we waiting for? The government has known about the solutions to this crisis for years,” he said.

An inquiry will be held into Victoria’s childcare sector following the allegations against childcare worker Joshua Brown.

Libertarian MP David Limbrick also called out Labor for appointing one of its own to conduct the investigation.

“This review needs to not only be independent, it needs to be seen as independent,” he said.

“Appointing old Labor friends looks bad.

“Parents deserve better than that”.

The opposition has written to the Ms Allan requesting that parliament be recalled early to pass immediate reforms.

During his time as SA families minister, Mr Weatherill had promised to fix the broken system in that state.

But more than a decade later, as SA premier, he faced calls to resign after the royal commission found the failures of the child protection system there “proved to be far greater than anyone had initially envisaged”.

Royal commissioner Margaret Nyland’s report found a “staggering” 61 per cent of Families SA notifications that required follow-up had ­instead been closed without any action.

Ms Nyland said the “greatest challenge was trying to find a way to fix a system in disarray”.

She said the system “lacked the capacity to respond appropriately to children in need of care and protection”.

Mr Weatherill conceded that authorities had failed children and that the report levelled “substantial criticisms” at his government. He apologised for “failing in this most fundamental duty to the children in our care”.

“We failed to protect the children left in the care of Shannon McCoole,” he said.

“We failed in our responsibility to keep these and other children safe from harm.”

South Australia’s then opposition leader Steven Marshall said Mr Weatherill was “inextricably” linked with that failure.

“There is now no choice but for Jay Weatherill to resign,” Mr Marshall said.

Ms Allan on Thursday said the Victorian review would report back to the government on August 15 and “we will adopt every recommendation of the review and implement them as quickly as possible”.

Earlier the state government said a ban on personal devices in childcare centres, also being considered nationally, will be introduced in Victoria from September 26.

Centres that breach this rule may face fines of up to $50,000.

Originally published as Appointment of Jay Weatherill to lead childcare inquiry ‘an insult to every ­Victorian family’, Opposition Leader Brad Battin says