Emma Lovell: Sentence for Australian jailed over UK woman's murder reduced
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The Guardian
an hour ago
- The Guardian
Federal working with children check system could take a year to set up, attorney general says
A national working with children's check system could take up to 12 months to set up, the federal attorney-general said, as Anthony Albanese decried the current industry safeguards as 'hopeless'. Ahead of a meeting of the nation's attorneys-general on Friday, Michelle Rowland said the group's 'most immediate and urgent' priority was to create a system that ensured those working with children who were 'banned in one' state were 'banned in all'. But she admitted it could take a year to put the necessary information-sharing arrangements in place. 'I would like to think this is something that is certainly capable of being done within certainly the next 12 months,' Rowland told ABC Radio National on Friday morning. 'If we can have a better sense of that following today's meeting, that would be a good thing.' Working with children checks are administered at the state level, but a string of cases of alleged child abuse at daycare centres has prompted calls to establish a national system. She said the delay was due to fragmentation, 'complex' IT systems and different laws and regulations in each state and territory. 'They need to make sure that they can affect those legislative changes they need to ensure that their IT systems are brought up to scratch,' Rowland said. 'But again, the fact that we're coming together today with the intense desire to make sure that we achieve a better system, is what Australians are looking for.' In 2015, the royal commission into child abuse delivered a specific report on working with children checks (WWCCs) and urged shifting to a national system. A Victorian ombudsman report in 2022 also highlighted 'serious flaws' with the state's WWCC system and urged several reforms, which are yet to be implemented. But the issue has come under renewed scrutiny in recent months after Melbourne childcare worker was charged with more than 70 offences relating to eight alleged victims in his care. At the time of his arrest in May, the employee had a valid working with children's check, despite his employment being terminated by several centres. There have been several media reports since of glaring issues with the regulation of the WWCCs since. On Friday, the prime minister was asked why an ABC report earlier in the week – about a male childcare worker accused of grooming children and later banned from working in childcare – had not led to his working with children check being revoked. '[The system is] hopeless, and we need to do better. Quite clearly. And these revelations are a wake up call for state and territory governments in terms of the regulations, but also the Commonwealth,' Albanese told ABC Radio Melbourne. The opposition leader, Sussan Ley, said the delay was 'completely unsatisfactory'. 'The PM has talked a big game on fixing these issues but 12 months to deliver this isn't good enough,' she said in a statement. 'We need stronger leadership on this issue, and the states and territories must be forced to act faster,' she added. The shadow attorney-general, Julian Leeser, said, 'Asking mums and dads to wait for a year just doesn't meet community expectations.' Since the Victorian allegations were made public, the federal government has fast-tracked legislation through parliament to cut funding to childcare centres that fail to meet safety standards. Education minister Jason Clare announced on Friday that his department had initiated compliance actions against 30 early childhood education and care services identified by the department as having failed to meet national quality standards 'over seven or more years'. The enforcement actions don't relate to child abuse or criminal allegations – but go to issues including play area safety, hygiene, staff training and supervision. The 30 centres have 48 hours to tell parents about the actions, and the names of the centres will be published by the department on Tuesday. They then have six months to improve their standards, or risk having their access to the childcare subsidy suspended or cancelled. The Victorian government, meanwhile, has ordered an urgent review of childcare safety, led by former South Australian premier Jay Weatherill and senior bureaucrat Pamela White. Their report, which is expected to recommend reforms to WWCCs, is due to be handed to government on Friday.
Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Dramatic moment knife-wielding car thief taken down by police is caught on camera
Harrowing footage has captured the moment a car thief slashed a police officer with a box knife before setting his car alight following a high-speed chase. Diesel Jackson, 25, punched two police officers, wielding a box knife, at a home in Frankston, in Melbourne 's south-east, on the evening of March 22, 2024. The officers, a man and woman, were responding to reports of a man at the property with a stolen white Jeep Grand Cherokee. When they arrived, Jackson waved a box knife and slashed one of the officers before fleeing in the stolen vehicle. Bodycam footage released by a judge to Seven News on Friday showed the male officer breaking away from the tussle and pointing a gun at the knife-wielding man. 'Put it down... Put the f***ing knife down!' he said. During the altercation, the female officer pleaded with the male officer to let Jackson go, having found herself 'trapped' alone in the room with the armed man. 'No, no, let him go, let him get out.... I'm trapped!' she said. During the altercation, neither of the officers were equipped with tasers but one of them used capsicum spray against the enraged Jackson, although it had little effect. 'Let him go, not worth it,' the female officer said as her police partner stepped out of the way to allow Jackson to go downstairs, before taking off in the stolen Jeep. Outside, the pair watched as Jackson drove off, only for him to come back and speed up as he approached them on the pavement. 'Watch out, he's going to ram us!' the female officer yelled, before ordering her partner to 'Get out of the way!' Aerial footage captured the high-speed chase through south-east Melbourne during which Jackson reportedly reached speeds approaching 170km/h. Manoeuvring through dense, oncoming traffic, the Jeep could be seen mounting kerbs and median strips before he sped over police-deployed stop sticks. The pursuit ended when Jackson lost control of the vehicle, spinning out on Cranbourne Road. He then set fire to the stolen vehicle before fleeing on foot but was apprehended nearby. The incident, which left both officers hospitalised, has renewed calls for the Victorian Government to fast-track its plan to equip all front-line officers with tasers. First proposed by the former Andrews Labor Government, the state has earmarked $214million towards funding the rollout of upgraded Axon tasers by September 2026. Chief executive of the Police Association Victoria Wayne Gatt said tasers would 'definitely have helped in the situation'. The 25-year-old Jackson was charged with 28 offences including assaulting emergency worker whilst on duty, intentionally causing injury, recklessly causing injury and theft of motor vehicle. He was convicted of eight offences and three summary offences and sentenced to six years imprisonment with four years non-parole.
The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
Defence granted adjournment in Molly Ticehurst murder case, 16 months after NSW woman's death
Prosecutors have been told to speak to the bereaved family of Molly Ticehurst, as the case against the man accused of her domestic violence murder drags on 16 months after her death. Daniel Billings, 30, is charged with murdering Ticehurst at her home in Forbes, central western NSW, in the early hours of April 22, 2024. Billings is yet to enter a plea. During a brief mention in Parkes local court on Friday morning, Billings' Legal Aid solicitor Diane Elston asked for the case to be adjourned, saying negotiations between the lawyers were continuing. There would still be 'some work to do' after the prosecution and defence teams meet later in August, she said. Magistrate Brett Thomas agreed to a seven-week adjournment, finding it was in the interests of 'members of the community, the family of the victim, the defendant and the Crown'. But he acknowledged the delay for Ticehurst's family, who have attended each of Billings' court dates. Prosecutors should 'be in contact with them today and just explain the situation to them,' Thomas said. Deputy senior crown prosecutor Lee Carr SC, appearing from Sydney, agreed. 'That can be accommodated easily,' he said. Billings, Ticehurst's former boyfriend, had been freed on bail by a local court registrar a fortnight before the alleged murder on charges including three counts of sexual intercourse without consent against her. Billings was also charged with four counts of stalking and intimidating her, destroying her property and aggravated animal cruelty against her 12-week-old dachshund puppy in 2023. Four more serious charges, including one count of aggravated sexual assault, were laid in December 2024. Legal documents before the court accused Billings of threatening to cause Ticehurst further physical harm during the alleged aggravated sexual assault. He is facing a total of 17 charges, including breaching an AVO that was in place to protect Ticehurst. Following Ticehurst's death changes were made to NSW laws including stripping registrars of the power to grant bail and 'show cause' thresholds for domestic violence-related bail applications. A specific bail division of the local court was also created in July, ensuring bail applications can be dealt with more quickly in virtual courtrooms. Billings' case returns to court on October 3.
