Major changes to working with children checks in Australia

Daily Telegraph

3 days ago

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Australia's states and territories have unanimously committed to major changes around working with children checks by the end of the year after a spate of arrests of alleged child predators sparked national outrage.
Attorney-General Michelle Rowland had promised a 'banned in one, banned in all' system – in which a person banned from holding a WWCC in one state cannot obtain one in another – would be the 'first item on the agenda' when she met with state and territory counterparts.
'Attorney-Generals today agreed to toughening the system to ensure that if you're banned from holding a working with children check in one jurisdiction, you're banned in all of them,' Ms Rowland said after that first meeting wrapped up on Friday.
Under the changes, criminal histories will be updated and shared in real time between jurisdictions, and the criteria that determines who is able to obtain a WWCC will be strengthened.
'It is notable that nefarious individuals have been shopping around the working with children check system and exploiting loopholes,' Ms Rowland said.
In May, Victoria Police charged Joshua Dale Brown, 26, with more than 70 offences, including child rape and possession of child abuse material.
He was a worker at Creative Garden Early Learning Centre in Point Cook and had a WWCC.
Melbourne childcare worker Joshua Brown was charged with more than 70 offences after allegedly using his job to abuse children. Picture Supplied
In July, after a court order was rescinded, it was revealed a 26-year-old Sydney man had been charged in late 2024 with allegedly using his position as an after-school care worker to produce child abuse material with 10 children aged six and under.
Australian Federal Police officers allege David William James produced child abuse material of 10 victims, the oldest being six years old.
It is further alleged Mr James's offending was linked to his employment with six different out-of-school hours care services in North Sydney and the Sydney CBD between April 2021 and May 2024.
David James allegedly used his position as an after-school care worker to make child abuse material. Picture: Supplied
Despite earlier concerns a national system would take up to 12 months to implement, Ms Rowland said the national system would be operational by the end of the year.
She credited work leading up to the meeting by states and territories, as well as a taskforce within her own department, for the faster delivery.
'These are complex areas, but that is no excuse for saying this is too hard as, let's be frank, has occurred until now,' she said.
'The fact is that we have come together, noting that a significant body of work has occurred in the lead-up to this meeting. It has meant that my department, for example, has established a specific taskforce within it to ensure that there is proper liaison between the states and territories.'
Attorney-General Michelle Rowland said the changes had been agreed to by all states and territories. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman
The changes stem from the 2015 Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.
Asked why the changes took a decade to implement, Ms Rowland said 'these are complex areas', including IT systems, and in many cases the minister responsible was not the attorney-general.
Her message to parents with children abused in the interim was that 'they have been let down by successive governments at all levels'.
'We are here as representatives of the states, territories and Commonwealth to say we're here to make that right, and that is why we are taking decisive action,' Ms Rowland said.
She said the government was committed to establishing a 'national continuous checking capability' for states to 'plug into' at a 'cost'.
Asked whether a national scheme would stop offenders who had never held a WWCC, Ms Rowland said: 'This is not going to solve every single nefarious actor out there who seeks to do children harm.'
Ms Rowland said the changes did not seek to make every state's system the same, instead 'looking for consistency'. She said the key issue in introducing a national scheme was time.
The government will consider further reforms to the sector, including whether to make a database public.
State governments have grappled with the fallout from multiple high-profile instances of alleged abuse at childcare centres.
The Victorian government has said it will require childcare centres to ban personal mobile devices from September 26, and launched an urgent review.
NSW Premier Chris Minns on Friday said his government would comply with and make available funds for a national database once it was implemented.
' I think that it's common sense to say that if someone's been struck off in Western Australia, then that's a leading indicator that they shouldn't be able to have a working with children's check in NSW,' Mr Minns said.
Originally published as Major changes announced after alleged childcare predators charged