Another childcare centre added to accused paedophile’s list of workplaces

Alleged Melbourne paedophile Joshua Dale Brown worked at an additional daycare centre that had not been listed by authorities online, bringing the total centres he worked at to 24.

On Tuesday, police revealed four more childcare centres had been impacted than initially thought, due to incorrect records handed over by providers, broadening the scope of the police investigation.

The revelation of a fifth additional centre on Wednesday, less than 24 hours later, came as federal education minister Jason Clare called for a national register of childcare educators and flagged legislation to crack down on centres which “weren’t up to scratch”.

Joshua Dale Brown worked at World of Learning in Point Cook.

Childcare giant G8 contacted parents on Tuesday, advising them that Brown had worked at World of Learning in Point Cook, in Melbourne’s west, on August 24, 2023.

Late on Wednesday, Victoria Police confirmed the extra centre, following reporting by this masthead, and it was then added to the government’s official list of Brown’s workplaces.

A police spokeswoman also clarified that the 26-year-old had incorrectly been listed as working at another provider – Kids Academy in Melton – on September 2 of last year, when he had actually worked there on September 12.

“Agencies are in the process of contacting the families who had children placed at the new impacted centre in Point Cook during the time of Brown’s employment,” she said.

Police again noted that the information released was the “most accurate and up-to-date record available”, but warned further updates to the alleged paedophile’s employment history were likely as they continued their investigations into his alleged abuse.

In an email to parents on Tuesday, G8 chief executive Pejman Okhovat said: “Based on our review of our records, there are no records of Mr Brown working at World of Learning Point Cook on any other day [apart from August 24 2023].”

The company referred the matter to police late Tuesday, and apologised to families for not providing the information sooner.

The World of Learning childcare centre at Point Cook on Tuesday.Credit: Wayne Taylor

“In the interest of transparency, it was important we inform you of this information as soon as we could and apologise that we were unable to provide it earlier,” Okhovat’s email read.

“The Victorian government and Victoria Police may contact you with further information or recommendations and we want to prepare you for that. We don’t have any information from any Government authorities to indicate when or how this might occur.”

G8, and the Department of Health were contacted for comment.

The federal education minister said on Wednesday that the companies where Brown worked should have been able to identify where he was working, without all the confusion.

“This highlights an example of why you need a database or a register, so you know where all childcare workers are and where they’re moving from centre to centre. That’s just one of the things that we need to do,” Clare said on Seven’s Sunrise program.

The minister said he would introduce legislation to cut off funding to childcare centres that “aren’t up to scratch”, or meeting necessary safety standards.

“You should be able to press a button and know exactly where he was when he was working ... We should have a system that tells us where all workers are, which centres they’re working at, whether they’re crossing individual borders.”

On Tuesday, Victoria Police Acting Commander Janet Stevenson noted efforts to verify Brown’s full work history had proven “extremely complex due to providers not having centralised records, requiring detectives to execute search warrants to obtain handwritten records, shift rosters and other critical information”.

The lack of records also meant detectives from the sexual crime squad had to assess more than 270 Crimestoppers reports and interview witnesses to confirm when and where Brown worked over his almost nine years in childcare.

Brown was charged in May with 70 offences related to child sexual abuse, including sexual penetration, producing child abuse material, and recklessly contaminating goods to cause alarm or anxiety. Brown had no criminal history and held a valid Working With Children Check when police raided his house in May, after allegedly finding a cache of child abuse material.

The case was only made public by police and authorities on July 1, as the Health Department recommended that more than 1300 children be tested for STIs as a precaution.

On Tuesday, another 800 children were recommended to undergo STI tests after the four other centres were revealed.

These centres were the Kids Academy Waratah Estate in Mickleham on August 29, 2024; Milestones Early Learning in Tarneit on September 10 and 13, 2024; Milestones Early Learning in Braybrook on December 4 and 6, 2024; and Milestones Early Learning in Greensborough on December 5, 2024, January 31, 2025 and February 27, 2025.

Brown will appear at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on September 15.

Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732).

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