Allan government’s Rapid Child Safety Review calls for sweeping overhaul to Victoria’s childcare regime
A child safety review — sparked when a Melbourne childcare worker was hit with dozens of child sex offences — has savaged Victoria’s system and prompted an apology from Premier Jacinta Allan who has acknowledged “trust has been horribly broken”.
The safety of Victorian children has been compromised because of systemic failings, underfunding and outdated practices, a damning report into the state’s childcare sector has found.
The Rapid Child Safety Review — made public on Wednesday, five days after being delivered to government — called for a sweeping overhaul to Victoria’s childcare regime including establishing a new independent regulator, increasing funding, and closing gaping loopholes within the Working With Children Check regime that have allowed child predators unfettered access to children.
The report’s authors, former South Australian Labor premier Jay Weatherill and veteran bureaucrat Pamela White, made 22 recommendations and recommended a strict 12-month timeline in which to completely overhaul the system.
More than half of the recommendations were aimed squarely at the Victorian government, but the report stressed a national approach was needed to repair the broken system.
“The review has identified immediate actions the Victorian government can take to close gaps in the national ECEC (early childhood education and care) system that compromise the safety of children,” it said.
“There is no silver bullet. The review recommends a system of checks and balances that work together to keep children safe.
“All parties need to play a role in the system of checks and balances.”
Jacinta Allan has committed to implementing each and every recommendation made in the report.
An overhaul of the existing Working With Children Check regime was a key feature of the report which found the system was not fit for purpose, and among the worst in the country.
Of note was the inability for Working With Children Check holders to be stripped of their clearances without a formal criminal charge, conviction or finding of guilt.
Recommendations to overhaul the regime, and make it easier for clearances to be suspended or cancelled on the basis of unsubstantiated allegations, come three years after former Victorian Ombudsman Deborah Glass made almost identical recommendations.
Ms Glass found the system was among the weakest in the country and called on the then Attorney-General and the Department of Justice and Community Safety “to consider much needed amendments to Victoria’s child safety screening laws to ensure Working with Children Check Victoria is able to consider all relevant information relating to a person’s risk to children.
“Reforms to the legislation are needed to bring Victoria in line with other states and territories, and to promote the rights of children and families enshrined in Victoria’s Human Rights Charter,” Ms. Glass said.
The government failed to act on the recommendations with the Premier dismissing calls to change the system in February last year claiming they were already “rigorous”.
“There are processes that sit behind that to ensure that people with a history are screened out of being able to receive a working with children’s check,” she had said.
Earlier this month the government blocked an Opposition bill that sought to immediately fix problems with the system.
The latest report found the system was leading to red flags being missed, and also recommended the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal be stripped of the ability to overturn Working With Children check decisions.
Instead an appeal process would exist as in an internal review process, with child safety experts responsible for all decisions.
The report also called for greater funding of the Working With Childrens check screening authority to enable a greater reliance on manual intervention in checks.
Spot checks of childcare centres would also be undertaken annually.
The report stopped short of calling for CCTV in childcare centres but said a trial should be undertaken to assess its workability.
The major inquiry was launched following allegations childcare worker Joshua Brown had sexually abused babies and toddlers in his care across multiple Melbourne centres.
Since they were first made public on July 2, at least seven other cases of alleged or founded child sexual abuse by people holding a Working With Children Check have been identified.
They included Horsham man Ron Marks who held a clearance for almost four years after police raided his home and found almost 1000 child abuse images on his devices.
He was ultimately convicted but was allowed to continue to work with children for years while his investigation remained ongoing.
The Premier and Cabinet were briefed by the authors of the report on Monday.
‘I am truly sorry’: Allan apologises, pledges $42m
Ms Allan on Wednesday announced a $42m boost to the childcare sector and said the government would introduce legislation to parliament next week to immediately address some of the recommendations.
It would seek to make changes to the Working With Children check regime, enforce mandatory training for applicants, and remove avenues of appeal through VCAT.
She also committed to establishing an independent regulator by the end of the year.
“The recent allegations of shocking abuse in childcare centres have exposed a system that simply isn’t working,” she said.
“This sickens me not just as a Premier, but as a mum. Parents must be able to drop their children off at childcare, knowing they will be encouraged to play and learn — trusting they will be safe. That trust has been horribly broken.
“And to every family who has been hurt by these horrifying allegations, I am truly sorry. You put your trust in a system, and that system let you down. As a mum, I cannot begin to imagine that pain. But as Premier, I can do everything in my power to act.”
Opposition calls out delays
The opposition has said it will work “constructively” with the government on reforms to the childcare system, but called out delays on what they said needed “urgent action”.
Coalition education spokeswoman Jess Wilson said on Wednesday afternoon that overhauls recommended by the Ombudsman in 2022 that were not implemented showed a failure of leadership.
“What is clear from today’s review is that the government has delayed obvious, urgent action to keep children safe in this state,” Ms Wilson said.
“Three weeks ago in the parliament, the Liberals and the Nationals introduced legislation that would have immediately put in place those Ombudsman’s recommendations to strengthen the Working with Children’s Check system.
“And the government voted them down.
“Now the government plans to bring in urgent legislation into the parliament next week, knowing that the system is broken.
“Knowing that they should have taken action before now and as a consequence of not passing those laws in the last sitting period there are individuals now still holding active Working With Children in this state that should not, that pose a risk to children.”
She went on to call out the review for not addressing “concrete action” on elements including psychological testing and CCTV.
“This is a review that dodges some of the hard questions.”
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