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News.com.au
03-07-2025
- News.com.au
Why men should not work in childcare
I'm sympathetic to the good men in childcare. I really am. I've seen their work first hand. But they might need to be collateral damage here. Aussie children — those so small they can't yet talk, let alone advocate for themselves — are being put at risk because we're too afraid to offend some men. I am aware that this is an emotional subject. I don't know another parent who read the news this week about the alleged abuse of children in Melbourne childcare centres and didn't have that sinking feeling in their stomach. The details, still emerging, are truly sickening. But I am not making an emotional argument. Mine is borne out in facts. Most people don't know that between 2 and 4 per cent of those who choose childcare as their occupation in Australia are men. Many also would not know that the staggeringly overwhelming majority of sexual offences perpetrated against children in non-school educational premises is carried out by men. In NSW, for example, there were 142 horrific, unthinkable acts against our most vulnerable children in the year to March 2025. Do you know how many of those offenders were not men? Just two. It makes sense given what we know about men being responsible for the vast majority of sexual offences carried out against children. A study published by the Australian Institute of Criminology shows that men account for 98.3 per cent of child sex offenders in this country. 'Men sexually abuse children far more frequently than do women and some child sex offenders go to great lengths to have access to large numbers of children to abuse and in some cases even choose their employment based on this,' the study reads. 'It is clear that although women have far more opportunities than men to abuse children — as primary carers of children in the home and in child-centred occupations such as childcare and teaching — these opportunities are rarely acted on.' Offences against children are the most heinous. But offenders are not all equal. In childcare settings, particularly under the broken system that exists in Australia, offenders have the opportunity to abuse far greater numbers of children than in the home. The AIC study showed that 'men who molested out of home female children averaged 20 victims' and 'men who molested out of home male children were even more active . . . averaging 150 victims each'. Joshua Brown, 26, worked across 20 childcare centres around Melbourne before he was charged with more than 70 offences. The Point Cook man was arrested and charged after police allegedly discovered child abuse material. He is accused of sexual penetration of a child under 12, sex assault of a child under 16 and production of child abuse material. Eight alleged victims were from the Creative Gardens Early Learning Centre in Point Cook where he worked between 2022 and 2023. He remains before the courts, and has not entered any pleas. As reported exclusively on Wednesday, he is also accused of contaminating the food of the children in his care with 'bodily fluids'. He will appear at the Melbourne Magistrates Court on September 15. The alleged crimes have sent a shockwave across the country and forced Victoria to undertake an urgent review of the childcare sector. Premier Jacinta Allan said Victoria would build its own register for childcare workers and institute a ban on childcare workers bringing phones to work from September 26. If a provider does not sign up, they face fines of up to $50,000. It is cold comfort for the horrified families of 1200 children who were told their tiny children should be tested for sexually transmitted diseases in the wake of Brown's arrest. The current checks and balances — including the the Working with Children Check — have proven ineffective in the past. A study in the Journal of Sexual Aggression in 2004 found that 15 per cent of professional perpetrators of sexual abuse against children — that is those who carried out the offending at work — 'chose their occupation (eg clergy, teaching, childcare) exclusively so they could sexually abuse children'. There are good men in childcare. But we cannot ignore the reality that evil men will target the profession as long as they are allowed to slip through the cracks.
Yahoo
01-07-2025
- Yahoo
Drivers warned as sinister trend continues to plunge Aussie highways into darkness
The costly problem of opportunistic copper theft continues to hurt Australia's economy, with thieves allegedly stripping lighting infrastructure quicker than authorities can replace the wiring. That was the case in June when a major Queensland highway was plunged into darkness, forcing motorists to rely on their car's headlights along the very busy section of road. There has been 86 reported instances of copper theft in Queensland in the last 12 months. The state's Department of Transport and Main Roads (TMR) confirmed to Yahoo News it has been "responding to a series of cable theft incidents across the state that have impacted street lighting and other assets on TMR-controlled roads". "This financial year, there has been 51 reported instances of theft and cable vandalism in the South Coast region and 35 instances in the Brisbane region. The cost to reinstate these sites is significant, much greater than the value of the copper cable which is being stolen," the TMR spokesperson said. Major highways affected include the M1, Ipswich Motorway, Centenary Highway, Warrego Highway, Southern Cross Way, Gympie Arterial Road, with cycle paths impacted too. While copper theft is being felt across the country, the issue is particularly prevalent in Queensland and cost the state a whopping $4.5 million in damages to the electrical network in 2023 alone. According to the Australian Institute of Criminology, the annual cost of metal theft is valued at well over $100 million. Alarmingly, in Queensland the crime has tripled in frequency since 2020. "We understand the safety and customer impacts caused by these incidents and are committed to reinstating street lighting as quickly as we can," the TMR spokesperson told Yahoo about streets going temporarily dark over the issue. Roads in Western Australia have also been left in darkness due to copper thieves, with lights remaining out for months along stretches of the Kwinana Freeway, as well as roads in Rockingham, Ravenswood, and infrastructure between Falcon to Dawesville, according to local media reports. 👀 Plumber's warning over 'lucrative' crime putting homeowners at risk 😲 Late-night encounter on shopping centre roof highlights sinister trend ⚡️ $780k copper theft behind power outages It's not only transport infrastructure that is being targeted by copper thieves. Copper has also been stolen from vacant homes and enterprising thieves have even dressed up as tradies to steal copper from construction sites and shopping centres. Burning is a popular method in which thieves are choosing to strip the metal before reselling it for cash, and hotspots for the behaviour are sprouting up across the country. Patches of burnt bush have been detected across Townsville, with clear signs of metal burning in 52 locations, with melted plastic and copper were found on the ground. Local man Dave Dudley, who alerted authorities to several incidents in May, told Yahoo News as the time it was "pretty disgusting" to come across it. "Either they go out there and strip it manually, like, run a knife down it to take all the plastic off, or the other easier method is to just sit it in a pile on the ground, and then pour a bit of petrol over it and torch it," he told Yahoo News. "It's burnt, but it's still resaleable." Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@ You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
Yahoo
17-06-2025
- Yahoo
Aussie roads dark for months as sinister $100 million trend escalates
It's an illegal, dangerous and growing trend right across Australia, and now copper theft has even left streets without lights in the country's west after opportunists stripped several major thoroughfares dry. A "lucrative and attractive venture for thieves", metal theft, and in particular stealing copper, has increased in prevalence in recent years, according to police. Authorities have warned those responsible for selling items like cables to scrap metal dealers, who melt and reshape them for use in electronics. They say not only is the act costly and inconvenient to energy providers and new homeowners, it's also extremely unsafe, with tradies often left to pick up the pieces after criminals rob worksites. In WA, roads in Rockingham, Kwinana and Mandurah have been left in the dark after thieves targeted streetlights. The lights have remained out for months along stretches of the Kwinana Freeway — including the Thomas Road, Safety Bay Road and Karnup Road off-ramps — as well as throughout Rockingham, in Ravenswood, and along Old Coast Road from Falcon to Dawesville, following a spate of cable thefts, according to local publications. According to the Australian Institute of Criminology, the federal government has estimated the annual cost of metal theft is valued at well over $100 million, with criminals frequently targeting worksites, new home builds, railway lines, electricity substations, sewerage works, hospitals and even schools. In WA, the state's Main Roads department agreed. It said locally, the figure had soared into the millions. In some cases, scrap dealers offer up to $6 per kilo for pure copper, $7 per kilo for mixed copper, and $2 per kilo for copper wire. Only gold and platinum fetch higher prices, trading for as much as $50 per gram. Main Roads confirmed that copper cable theft is a growing concern, with a spokesperson stating the agency is working closely with WA Police and other authorities to "mitigate the impacts and prosecute those illegally accessing vital public infrastructure, including assisting with the identification of stolen Main Roads cable when recovered." Thieves dressed as tradies costing millions in sinister nationwide trend Tradie's disbelief as thieves 'rip out' $300 item from under home Tradie's jaw-dropping act after client allegedly refuses to pay "As a result of copper cable theft, there are currently lighting outages across the road and path network, and Main Roads is working to restore these as soon as possible," the spokesperson told Sound Telegraph. In December, the department revealed a shocking 800,000 metres of cable had been stolen over the past five or six years. It's estimated that some $3 million worth of replacement cable is required per year. Copper theft isn't just a problem in WA, though, with reports of thefts increasing in all regions of Australia and overseas. Last year, Yahoo News spoke with a tradie who was stunned to discover copper had been stolen from a property left vacant for a few weeks between tenants. Local plumber and bathroom specialist Mick was told the house he was heading to in Coffs Harbour, NSW, had "no water" inside the home, yet the new tenants moving in could hear the sound of liquid "p**sing out" from somewhere under the house. After turning on the water, Mick noticed that it was "shooting straight up" from the ground under the house. Investigating its source, he found a "little copper pipe" sticking out that looked as though it had been "ripped off". The pipe should have been supplying the entire house with water. In Queensland, where the crime is particularly prevalent, thieves cost the state a whopping $4.5 million in damages to the electrical network in 2023 alone, with culprits even reportedly dressing a tradies to avoid detection while they make away with live wires. Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@ You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
ABC News
14-05-2025
- ABC News
Intimate Partner Homicide
News Channel: During Afternoon Briefing on 24 April 2025 the host stated: 'a woman is killed every 4 days by her partner'. This was not correct. According to the Australian Institute of Criminology's homicide reporting for the period 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2024, on average a female is killed around every four days and by their partner around every eight days.
