The limitations of 'Working with Children' checks
Detectives from the Sexual Crimes Squad have arrested 26 year-old Joshua Dale Brown in relation to alleged sexual and other offending against eight children at Creative Garden Early Learning Centre between April 2022 and January 2023.
They say the alleged victims were between five months and two years of age.
Kathleen Maltzahn is the Chief Executive Officer of Sexual Assault Services Victoria.
She spoke with ABC NewsRadio's Laura Tchilinguirian.
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News.com.au
29 minutes ago
- News.com.au
‘Racist' clash claims at popular Sydney spot
Police have launched an appeal for information following an alleged racist encounter between customers at a bustling location in Sydney's CBD. Police claim that racial insults were hurled at a mother in front of her toddler at the Starbucks inside the Queen Victoria Building on George Street on the morning of June 16. They are searching for two women who may be able to assist with their investigation. Video footage of the altercation has circulated on social media, however none of the alleged racist allegations have been captured on video. The woman who filmed the video and shared it to social media – who asked not to be identified by name – told she was with her four-year-old son, and the rest of her family at the time. 'Walking with a toddler, it was probably a bit slow. They got really annoyed, so I said sorry to them,' she recounted. She pulled out her phone and started filming after the pair – apparently upset with the speed she was walking – allegedly started to hurl racial slurs at the family, such as pulling their eyes into a slant and calling out 'ching chong'. The woman told she is an immigrant who has lived in Australia for 10 years with her family. 'I said, 'Excuse me, are you OK?' Instead of apologising, they made this awful, mocking eye gestures and mocked my accent. They told me to go back to my country,' she alleged. 'They also gave me the middle finger.' None of these allegations were captured in the video footage that the woman shared to social media. The mother said she wished she started filming earlier to capture the entire alleged ordeal. The video footage began with the woman confirming she is an immigrant while one of the opposing women made a rude hand gesture, blowing kisses and waving. All three women involved in the encounter were filming. 'You're just being racist, calling me Asian,' the woman said in the video. 'But don't be a racist because you guys are immigrants. The first people in Australia were Aboriginal. We are immigrants you need to be respectful.' One of the women repeatedly tried to talk over the woman and appeared to pretend to either not understand or hear what she had to say. 'I'm posting you on social media,' one of the opposing women said. The woman said she was 'shocked' because in the 10 years she had lived in Sydney, it was her first encounter with racism. 'I've heard stories about this, but not in the city of Sydney, where it's so multicultural. There's so many Asian people everywhere in the city. I was so shocked,' she told It prompted the woman to ask if the other women were even from Sydney, which resulted in one of the women pulling out her wallet and claiming her Australian passport was inside. The woman said it was nobody's right to tell her where she should be just because of her background as an Asian woman, saying she pulled her phone out to start filming to make people aware that racism does exist in Sydney. 'I needed to stand up for myself and make people aware, they have no right to abuse people because of their ethnicity,' she said. She said it made her worry about her son's future, saying she never wanted her little boy to face something like this just because of his background. Since uploading the video, the woman said she hasn't been able to find the women. All she wants is an apology, and then she will remove the clip. 'It's really affected me, which is why I posted on social media. I've heard so many stories,' she said.
The Advertiser
an hour ago
- The Advertiser
Childcare worker rules in spotlight after abuse charges
An overhaul to working with children checks is among the safety changes desperately needed to protect kids from predators lurking in Australian childcare centres. That's the verdict from leading advocates for children and abuse survivors after a childcare worker was charged with more than 70 sex offences against eight children aged under two. Charges laid against Joshua Dale Brown, 26, include sexual penetration of a child under 12, attempted sexual penetration of a child under 12 and producing child abuse material. He worked at 20 childcare centres, but the allegations relate to his time at one site at Point Cook, in Melbourne's west, between April 2022 and January 2023. Brown was not known to police until the start of the investigation, there were no formal complaints against him and he had a valid working with children check. Those screenings are widely used around Australia to allow adults to work with children, but they are in urgent need of an overhaul, according to Sexual Assault Services Victoria chief executive Kathleen Maltzahn. "We can't rely just on working with children checks because they only work if someone has already been found guilty of child abuse," she told AAP. "Evidence of abuse or concerning behaviour that hasn't resulted in criminal charges or disciplinary action (should be) considered." Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan committed to strengthening any safeguards needed but the allegations have raised broader concerns. Industry body Early Learning Association Australia and charity Act for Kids both pushed for changes to be rolled out nationwide. The charity said working with children screening requirements were inconsistent between Australian jurisdictions and "often put the rights of workers ahead of the rights of children". Parent advocate group The Parenthood ramped up calls for a national early childhood commission to ensure appropriate oversight, quality and accountability throughout the sector. State, territory and federal education ministers recently backed a national overhaul of childcare safety rules, including tougher regulations around photography and mandatory reporting. But advocates want changes to go further, with Ms Maltzahn calling for a rethink of how centres approach children's bathrooms and the potential introduction of a national register for staff. Victorian Childrens Minister Lizzie Blandthorn said national reforms were moving too slowly and her state would develop its own register of workers. "Teachers are already required to be registered with the Victorian Institute of Teachers, (early childhood) educators are not, so there are things that we are working with the Commonwealth on moving forward," she said. Legislation that would allow the government to cut subsidies to centres due to safety breaches is due to be introduced to federal parliament within months. Early Childhood Education Minister Jess Walsh said the federal government supported Victoria and NSW pushing ahead with their own reforms while the Commonwealth worked with all jurisdictions on changes, including nationwide registration. National Children's Commissioner Anne Hollonds said Australia has been quite slow to minimise risks to children and called for greater training. "We need to strengthen the regulators, they need to be visiting more often," she said. 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028 An overhaul to working with children checks is among the safety changes desperately needed to protect kids from predators lurking in Australian childcare centres. That's the verdict from leading advocates for children and abuse survivors after a childcare worker was charged with more than 70 sex offences against eight children aged under two. Charges laid against Joshua Dale Brown, 26, include sexual penetration of a child under 12, attempted sexual penetration of a child under 12 and producing child abuse material. He worked at 20 childcare centres, but the allegations relate to his time at one site at Point Cook, in Melbourne's west, between April 2022 and January 2023. Brown was not known to police until the start of the investigation, there were no formal complaints against him and he had a valid working with children check. Those screenings are widely used around Australia to allow adults to work with children, but they are in urgent need of an overhaul, according to Sexual Assault Services Victoria chief executive Kathleen Maltzahn. "We can't rely just on working with children checks because they only work if someone has already been found guilty of child abuse," she told AAP. "Evidence of abuse or concerning behaviour that hasn't resulted in criminal charges or disciplinary action (should be) considered." Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan committed to strengthening any safeguards needed but the allegations have raised broader concerns. Industry body Early Learning Association Australia and charity Act for Kids both pushed for changes to be rolled out nationwide. The charity said working with children screening requirements were inconsistent between Australian jurisdictions and "often put the rights of workers ahead of the rights of children". Parent advocate group The Parenthood ramped up calls for a national early childhood commission to ensure appropriate oversight, quality and accountability throughout the sector. State, territory and federal education ministers recently backed a national overhaul of childcare safety rules, including tougher regulations around photography and mandatory reporting. But advocates want changes to go further, with Ms Maltzahn calling for a rethink of how centres approach children's bathrooms and the potential introduction of a national register for staff. Victorian Childrens Minister Lizzie Blandthorn said national reforms were moving too slowly and her state would develop its own register of workers. "Teachers are already required to be registered with the Victorian Institute of Teachers, (early childhood) educators are not, so there are things that we are working with the Commonwealth on moving forward," she said. Legislation that would allow the government to cut subsidies to centres due to safety breaches is due to be introduced to federal parliament within months. Early Childhood Education Minister Jess Walsh said the federal government supported Victoria and NSW pushing ahead with their own reforms while the Commonwealth worked with all jurisdictions on changes, including nationwide registration. National Children's Commissioner Anne Hollonds said Australia has been quite slow to minimise risks to children and called for greater training. "We need to strengthen the regulators, they need to be visiting more often," she said. 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028 An overhaul to working with children checks is among the safety changes desperately needed to protect kids from predators lurking in Australian childcare centres. That's the verdict from leading advocates for children and abuse survivors after a childcare worker was charged with more than 70 sex offences against eight children aged under two. Charges laid against Joshua Dale Brown, 26, include sexual penetration of a child under 12, attempted sexual penetration of a child under 12 and producing child abuse material. He worked at 20 childcare centres, but the allegations relate to his time at one site at Point Cook, in Melbourne's west, between April 2022 and January 2023. Brown was not known to police until the start of the investigation, there were no formal complaints against him and he had a valid working with children check. Those screenings are widely used around Australia to allow adults to work with children, but they are in urgent need of an overhaul, according to Sexual Assault Services Victoria chief executive Kathleen Maltzahn. "We can't rely just on working with children checks because they only work if someone has already been found guilty of child abuse," she told AAP. "Evidence of abuse or concerning behaviour that hasn't resulted in criminal charges or disciplinary action (should be) considered." Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan committed to strengthening any safeguards needed but the allegations have raised broader concerns. Industry body Early Learning Association Australia and charity Act for Kids both pushed for changes to be rolled out nationwide. The charity said working with children screening requirements were inconsistent between Australian jurisdictions and "often put the rights of workers ahead of the rights of children". Parent advocate group The Parenthood ramped up calls for a national early childhood commission to ensure appropriate oversight, quality and accountability throughout the sector. State, territory and federal education ministers recently backed a national overhaul of childcare safety rules, including tougher regulations around photography and mandatory reporting. But advocates want changes to go further, with Ms Maltzahn calling for a rethink of how centres approach children's bathrooms and the potential introduction of a national register for staff. Victorian Childrens Minister Lizzie Blandthorn said national reforms were moving too slowly and her state would develop its own register of workers. "Teachers are already required to be registered with the Victorian Institute of Teachers, (early childhood) educators are not, so there are things that we are working with the Commonwealth on moving forward," she said. Legislation that would allow the government to cut subsidies to centres due to safety breaches is due to be introduced to federal parliament within months. Early Childhood Education Minister Jess Walsh said the federal government supported Victoria and NSW pushing ahead with their own reforms while the Commonwealth worked with all jurisdictions on changes, including nationwide registration. National Children's Commissioner Anne Hollonds said Australia has been quite slow to minimise risks to children and called for greater training. "We need to strengthen the regulators, they need to be visiting more often," she said. 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028 An overhaul to working with children checks is among the safety changes desperately needed to protect kids from predators lurking in Australian childcare centres. That's the verdict from leading advocates for children and abuse survivors after a childcare worker was charged with more than 70 sex offences against eight children aged under two. Charges laid against Joshua Dale Brown, 26, include sexual penetration of a child under 12, attempted sexual penetration of a child under 12 and producing child abuse material. He worked at 20 childcare centres, but the allegations relate to his time at one site at Point Cook, in Melbourne's west, between April 2022 and January 2023. Brown was not known to police until the start of the investigation, there were no formal complaints against him and he had a valid working with children check. Those screenings are widely used around Australia to allow adults to work with children, but they are in urgent need of an overhaul, according to Sexual Assault Services Victoria chief executive Kathleen Maltzahn. "We can't rely just on working with children checks because they only work if someone has already been found guilty of child abuse," she told AAP. "Evidence of abuse or concerning behaviour that hasn't resulted in criminal charges or disciplinary action (should be) considered." Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan committed to strengthening any safeguards needed but the allegations have raised broader concerns. Industry body Early Learning Association Australia and charity Act for Kids both pushed for changes to be rolled out nationwide. The charity said working with children screening requirements were inconsistent between Australian jurisdictions and "often put the rights of workers ahead of the rights of children". Parent advocate group The Parenthood ramped up calls for a national early childhood commission to ensure appropriate oversight, quality and accountability throughout the sector. State, territory and federal education ministers recently backed a national overhaul of childcare safety rules, including tougher regulations around photography and mandatory reporting. But advocates want changes to go further, with Ms Maltzahn calling for a rethink of how centres approach children's bathrooms and the potential introduction of a national register for staff. Victorian Childrens Minister Lizzie Blandthorn said national reforms were moving too slowly and her state would develop its own register of workers. "Teachers are already required to be registered with the Victorian Institute of Teachers, (early childhood) educators are not, so there are things that we are working with the Commonwealth on moving forward," she said. Legislation that would allow the government to cut subsidies to centres due to safety breaches is due to be introduced to federal parliament within months. Early Childhood Education Minister Jess Walsh said the federal government supported Victoria and NSW pushing ahead with their own reforms while the Commonwealth worked with all jurisdictions on changes, including nationwide registration. National Children's Commissioner Anne Hollonds said Australia has been quite slow to minimise risks to children and called for greater training. "We need to strengthen the regulators, they need to be visiting more often," she said. 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028
ABC News
an hour ago
- ABC News
Industry leaders call for reform following childcare sex abuse
There are calls for urgent Federal Government intervention following a series of sickening abuse allegations in the early childhood education sector. The latest, a 26-year-old childcare worker from Melbourne has been charged with more then 70 child sex offences prompting a major investigation involving more than two-and-a-half-thousand families across 20 child care centres across Victoria. Authorities say it's a deeply distressing time for parents, urging at least 1,000 children to get tested for infectious diseases.
