The Victorian government has ordered an urgent review of childcare safety after allegations of sexual abuse by a worker, announcing plans for a state-run staff register, new fines and potentially installing CCTV in all centres, as it criticised the “frustratingly slow” pace of federal reform.
Joshua Dale Brown, 26, was charged in May with more than 70 offences relating to eight alleged victims aged between five months and two years old, who attended a centre in Melbourne’s western suburbs.
His case was only made public on Tuesday after a suppression order was lifted, with authorities contacting about 2,600 families whose children were enrolled at 20 childcare centres where police believe Brown worked between January 2017 and May 2025.
Of those children, about 1,200 have been recommended for screening for infectious diseases.
Announcing the review on Wednesday, the premier, Jacinta Allan, said all Victorians were “completely horrified by those sickening allegations that were made public” and would rightly ask, “how could this sort of offending be possible within a childcare centre?”
“Families must be able to trust that their children are safe when they are placed in the care of a childcare centre, and I will do everything in my power to make sure that parents can trust the system,” Allan said.
She said the “short and sharp review” would focus on immediate actions the state could take, drawing on work by the commonwealth and other states and territories’ reviews.
It will consider whether Victoria can go “even further and act faster” on any measures currently being considered at a national level, including whether it can mandate CCTV in childcare centres.
The minister for children, Lizzie Blandthorn, said CCTV would both act as a deterrent and assist police in identifying any incidents that occur.
“The police said to me, it makes a difference and I believe it would make a difference. It’s a deterrent, if nothing else, in a centre for people who might have bad intent,” she said.
Blandthorn said the review would also examine working with children checks, which the government had already committed to reforming in April.
The review will report back by 15 August and Allan pledged to adopt all recommendations and implement them “as quickly as possible”.
The state will also develop its own childcare worker registration system to provide “an extra layer of checks and balances”. Victoria’s register could transition into a federal scheme once it is established, Blandthorn said.
She also announced the government would also require all childcare centres to adopt the federal ban on personal devices by 26 September.
Childcare centres which do not comply will have a ban imposed on them as a condition of licence and may face fines up to $50,000.
“There is national reform work under way but … it is frustratingly slow. This is something we have expressed over the past months and weeks,” Blandthorn said.
“We need to see tangible outcomes sooner and, as I told the commonwealth last week, in Victoria we will be looking at what we can do ahead of existing national schedules for the implementation of child safety reform.”
Blandthorn said the delays were not due to a lack of will but a challenge posed by the “federated system”. Another “frustration”, she said, was that since around 2018 the commonwealth stopped providing funding to states to run their early childhood regulators.
Despite that, she said Victoria’s regulator remains “well resourced”, had conducted 4,700 inspections last year, and will receive 12 additional staff as a result of Wednesday’s announcement.
The federal education minister, Jason Clare, told ABC Radio National he would be introducing legislation to federal parliament “as quickly as we possibly can” to cut off federal funding to childcare centres which don’t comply with safety standards.
Clare later said strengthening working with children checks would be among topics discussed at a meeting of the state and federal attorneys general next month, as well as “harmonisation and information sharing”.
Victoria’s chief health officer, Dr Christian McGrath, described Tuesday as a “very difficult day”. He said a dedicated phone line had been established to support affected families, but acknowledged long wait times.
“Any wait time could be stressful for any family, so I want to acknowledge that. I want to thank everyone for their patience,” McGrath said.
He urged families to consult the government’s website and only call the helpline if they believe their child attended a centre during the time Brown was working there.
