Latest news with #AllanGovernment
Sydney Morning Herald
6 days ago
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
Councils protest Victorian government's new levy
Victorian councils are getting together to launch an extraordinary legal move to block the Allan Government's new emergency services levy. (edited) Loading
The Age
6 days ago
- Politics
- The Age
Councils protest Victorian government's new levy
Victorian councils are getting together to launch an extraordinary legal move to block the Allan Government's new emergency services levy. (edited) Loading
ABC News
23-07-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
New Victorian childcare worker registration scheme to begin next month but won't include fill-in workers
Fill-in childcare workers won't be included in the first stage of Victoria's new childcare worker registration scheme when it begins next month, triggering fears workers with red flags will be able to continue to move freely throughout the sector. The new scheme comes as the state opposition calls for psychometric testing to be used to screen all new childcare staff, as part of its major policy pitch to fix the beleaguered, but essential, sector. "We need to make sure that the people who are going to work with our most vulnerable are the right people to be doing so,'' Shadow Minister Jess Wilson said. She said currently, certification for childcare work can occur within a couple of months, and there has been concern about people joining the workforce for the wrong reasons. "We want a pilot model that makes sure we're getting people who really want to be working in this system and have the right psychometric testing to fit that." Among the Coalition plans are a major overhaul of the Working with Children Check (WWCC) to include online training about child sex abuse, lowering the threshold to revoke a WWCC, and slashing the validity of a check from five years to three. WWCC would also be incorporated into the police database system LEAP to help the force raise red flags. In the wake of the disturbing allegations against childcare worker Joshua Dale Brown, the Allan government promised to establish a state-based childcare worker register, acknowledging the current system is failing. Premier Jacinta Allan said the scheme would be set up by August. This week, childcare centres with government-funded kindergarten programs were told they would need to provide details of all staff by August 29, to comply with the new Early Childhood Workforce Register. But it does not capture all early childhood services, with kindergarten services not receiving state funding, and outside school hours care, family day care, and occasional care, not captured in the first round. Agency staff will also not be included initially — the government expects to add this group in October. It says the first round will capture information on more than 90 per cent of employees in long day care and kinder settings. "Information about agency staff will also be collected quarterly as part of the next stage of implementation,'' an email to childcare centres says. The register, which will be updated each quarter, requires services to record information about all employees at the service who have regular contact with children, regardless of how old the children might be. The register will collect information on role, gender, Working with Children Check status, commencement of employment and cessation of employment, and the reason for leaving the service. "Further work is underway on the approach to other regulated ECEC (early childhood education and care) services, including LDC (long day care) and kindergarten services not receiving funding, outside school hours care, family day care, as well as occasional care," the email said. A Victorian government spokesperson said this register was being created with "established systems" to take "immediate steps". "This will be established by late August. Other long-term solutions will be able to link into a national registration system, once it's established," the spokesperson said. "Victorian families must be able to trust that their children are safe in child care and we are doing everything in our power to make sure they can." Ms Wilson said the Coalition backed the establishment of a register and said it should be done by expanding the remit of the Victorian Institute of Teaching, which registers schoolteachers. "This is a model that works. It's a model that works right across the system,'' Ms Wilson said. She also said agency staff should be the first on the register. "We should be looking at where the highest risk is, and that is in centres that use agency staff, where we see the workforce moving around regularly, we need to make sure we're starting with the highest risk so that we are looking for any red flags, and are getting on top of this situation quickly." The Coalition will on Thursday release a "six-point plan" to improve the sector, including setting up an independent statutory authority that reports to parliament to oversee quality, safety, compliance and complaints in the sector. The role currently sits within the Department of Education in the Quality Assessment and Regulation Division (QARD). The plan will also grant parents a greater "right to know" about incidents occurring at centres, as well as staffing performance and standards at their child care, with Ms Wilson promising an independent star rating system for all centres. The Coalition will also move to improve training and standards and will overhaul WWCC. Much of the Working with Children Check proposals from the Coalition build on recommendations made by the ombudsman in 2022 — actions the state is still to implement. "It is absolutely a failing of this government, and we want to fix it right away,'' Ms Wilson said. Child care presents a major political opportunity for the Coalition to improve its standing with female voters and people under 40 — cohorts the Liberal Party has struggled to connect with. Gabrielle Meagher said a register could be a meaningful tool but suggested that it would need to provide real-time reporting of staff changes. She also said a national approach was needed. "Why don't the ministers around the country come together and put together a national scheme? To work, it really has to be national because people have evaded detection by working in different states,'' Professor Meagher said. But she said improvements to child care required more than just a registration scheme. Governments need to do more to address workforce shortages, poor pay, low quality training, poor management and supervision in centres, and weak oversight by regulators. The Victorian Greens spokesperson for Early Childhood, Anasina Gray-Barberio, said the register was welcomed but left "gaping holes" because thousands of centres would not be covered. "Until the register is expanded, people with red flags will still be able to move freely between untracked centres, undermining the whole point of the register."
ABC News
21-07-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
Victoria Police asked for tougher bail laws for arsonists, FOI documents show
The Victorian government has mostly sat on advice from police to make it tougher for accused arsonists to be released on bail amid Melbourne's ongoing tobacco wars, according to secret briefing notes. Documents obtained by the ABC through Freedom of Information laws reveal that earlier this year, the Allan government was asked to tighten bail rules to help Victoria Police directly target players allegedly responsible for scores of firebombings. But in the four months since the government received the advice, it ignored the majority of the police requests and removed the presumption of bail for only one arson-related offence, which requires a person's life to be endangered. That change is unlikely to have an impact on the majority of tobacco-related firebombings, which typically occur in the dead of night at empty shops. It comes as newly released figures from police revealed there have been eight tobacco-related arsons since the government's bail changes came into effect in March, including the firebombing of a victim's home that was so serious they were put into witness protection. Since then, police have arrested 23 people and charged six offenders with arson but four were granted bail — two by the courts and the other two by police. In a briefing note from February, Victoria Police urged the police minister to reclassify five serious arson-related offences in the Bail Act which would remove the presumption of bail. Those offences were: The changes would have forced alleged firebombers charged with serious arson offences to show a "compelling reason" for why they should be granted bail, whereas at the moment the courts presume they are entitled to bail. But despite agreeing to advocate for the changes months ago, the government removed the presumption of bail solely for criminal damage by fire with the intent to endanger life. A Victorian government spokeswoman defended the decision and said it was acting to "smoke out organised crime and crack down on the illicit tobacco trade". "We have listened to police and have already changed the Bail Act by elevating serious arson offences to Schedule 2, meaning anyone charged will be subject to a tougher bail test under our new laws," the government spokeswoman said. A Victoria Police spokeswoman said the force regularly gave advice to the government. "It is ultimately a matter for government on whether they take that advice and any queries relating to legislation should be directed to them," she said. Middle Eastern crime gangs have been behind 140 firebombings since the tobacco wars began in March 2023 as warring factions tried to seize control of Melbourne's illicit tobacco and vape market. In February this year one of the city's most notorious underworld figures, Sam Abdulrahim, was gunned down in an apartment block car park after a contract was put out on his life. Victoria Police has previously said it believed Kazem Hamad, a sworn enemy of Abdulrahim, is a key player in the tobacco wars who has orchestrated firebombings on his rivals or shop owners who refuse to pay exorbitant extortion fees. Hamad was deported to Iraq after serving eight years behind bars for drug trafficking. The tit-for-tat firebombings have dominated headlines, sucked up police resources and put pressure on the Victorian government to try and stem the tide of violent attacks. It prompted Victoria Police to make the bail recommendations which the force said constituted a "legislative gap". There is currently just one fire-related crime considered serious enough not to warrant the presumption of bail — arson causing death. "This results in offenders of other serious arson offences … not being required to show a compelling reason for why they should be granted bail," Victoria Police said in the secret briefing documents. "Victoria Police advises … it has also witnessed a continuing cycle of re-offending due to the time taken for matters to be brought before the courts and the high likelihood for suspects to receive bail following arson charges," the force said. According to police, there have been at least three occasions where alleged offenders have received bail after firebombing tobacco shops, among them a mid-level organised crime figure. In the documents released to the ABC police allege the man, who is accused of extortion, arson and blackmail, was bailed "despite evidence provided to the court which negated a defence to the charges and despite false assurances". The force said the changes would have a "preventative and deterrent" effect. "Victoria Police proposes these five additional offences be included … as a practical solution to the current issue of serious arson offenders receiving a presumption of bail regardless of their risk to the community," the force said. The force's concerns were noted and agreed to by Police Minister Anthony Carbines but were missing when the Victorian government overhauled the Bail Act after facing mounting pressure to address rising crime rates. The government's changes reclassified home invasions and carjackings as more serious offences and included tougher bail tests for serious child and adult offenders who commit a crime while already on bail for other offences.
Daily Mail
20-06-2025
- Daily Mail
Notorious crime boss Tony Mokbel is awarded $1million over brutal prison attack - but there's a catch
Melbourne gangland boss Tony Mokbel has been awarded $1million from the Victorian government after he was brutally attacked by two other inmates. Two inmates knocked Mokbel unconscious and stabbed him with a 'shiv' during the attack at Bowral Prison in 2019. Mokbel, then 53, had to be rushed from the maximum security prison in Lara to Melbourne Hospital to be treated for a traumatic brain injury, a brain haemorrhage and stab wounds. He also lost several teeth in the attack. The gangster sued the state over the attack, leading to the massive payout from the Allan government on Friday. But most of the money will not go to Mokbel himself. About $750,000 has gone towards medical and legal costs while the remaining $250,000 has been paid into the Prisoner Compensation Quarantine Fund. While the money is held in quarantine for 12 months, creditors and victims of Mokbel will have the opportunity to make a claim on it, the Herald Sun reports. Mokbel famously fled Australia on a yacht in 2006 while he was on trial over a cocaine importation, only to be arrested a year later in Greece. The former drug cartel head was sentenced to 30 years in prison in 2012. In April, the 59-year old was released on bail after almost two decades in jail. He was pictured beaming as he walked down the steps of the Victorian Supreme Court of Appeal to be reunited with his friends and family. Mokbel said nothing as he walked through a police cordon shielding him from a horde of journalists and other onlookers. The jailbird gangster's release attracted the largest media scrum outside a Melbourne court since George Pell appeared at court for a preliminary hearing in 2017. Daily Mail Australia revealed Mokbel's first act after being released was to visit the grave of his mother, who died in 2013. His appeal against three convictions for drug trafficking will be heard later this year.
