There are growing calls for a national inquiry into Australia’s childcare sector after a Victorian worker was charged with dozens of child sexual abuse offences.
Victoria police on Tuesday announced Point Cook resident Joshua Brown, 26, had been charged with more than 70 offences relating to eight alleged victims aged between five months and two years.
More than 1,200 children will now be tested for infectious diseases after the charges were made public.
While Brown is yet to enter a plea and the allegations are yet to be tested by the courts, parent advocacy groups, politicians and the child protection organisation Bravehearts have called for a national review of child protection protocols and more rigorous screening, monitoring and reporting systems.
The director of Childlight UNSW, Prof Michael Salter, said: “Systematically, in Australia, we have real challenges around investigating and prosecuting the sexual abuse of very young children. I think this is a particularly vulnerable group of victims of sexual violence.”
Salter said there was a lack of regulation in the industry.
“There’s no question that regulation is a huge issue here,” he said. “It includes not just the enforcement of quality standards, but making sure that there’s always a certain number of staff in a childcare centre and breaches of standards are taken seriously.
“We need a national inquiry into child maltreatment in childcare. We need a targeted, focused inquiry to make sure children are getting the care they deserve.”
Appearing on ABC on Tuesday afternoon, the national children’s commissioner, Anne Hollonds, accused the system of having “absolutely” failed families.
“These are issues and risks that we’ve known about for a long time … Child safety and wellbeing is not a priority in this country.”
The Greens are also calling for a royal commission into safety and equality in the early childhood education system, while Liberal senator Jonno Duniam called on the government to “urgently review Australia’s child safety safeguards – including those under the national quality framework”.
In Australia, children, young adults, parents and teachers can contact the Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800, or Bravehearts on 1800 272 831, and adult survivors can contact Blue Knot Foundation on 1300 657 380. The crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. In an emergency, call 000. International helplines can be found via www.befrienders.org
