Latest news with #HoppersCrossing
ABC News
4 days ago
- ABC News
Childcare group reviews staff movements after Joshua Brown worked at 23 centres in 8 years
A major childcare operator is reviewing the way it employs its workers after authorities confirmed accused abuser Joshua Dale Brown worked at more sites than originally thought. On Monday, authorities added four centres to a list of sites where the 26-year-old was known to have worked, and amended employment dates for 10 previously known locations. They also recommended a further 800 children undergo "precautionary" infectious disease testing, bringing the total to 2,000. Mr Brown has been charged with more than 70 offences, including sexual assault. Detectives believe he worked at a total of 23 childcare centres over more than eight years, a workplace history that early learning experts say is not unusual. Victoria Police have said it was "likely" more updates will be made to the list in coming weeks. It has promoted some parents to question how Mr Brown worked shifts at almost two dozen centres, sometimes for just one day. Affinity Education Group owns 13 of the 23 businesses where Mr Brown worked between 2017 and 2025. In August 2024, Mr Brown was hired as a permanent part-time employee at Milestones Early Learning in Hoppers Crossing but the centre didn't open for business until November of that year. While waiting for that new centre to come online and to increase its enrolments, he worked at other childcare centres owned by the company. He worked at childcare centres owned by the group until May of this year. In a statement published on its website, Affinity said: "While this is a common operational practice in the sector, we are now reviewing how these movements are managed through a stronger child safety lens." G8 Education did not respond to detailed questions from the ABC about the nature of Mr Brown's employment, but based on the current list, he started working for the group in October 2021. Across more than two years with G8, he worked at Creative Garden Point Cook, Leopold World of Learning, Greenwood Point Cook and Little Blossoms Child Care Centre Werribee. He last worked for G8 Education in February 2024. The childcare giant said on Saturday that Mr Brown resigned following investigations into his conduct. University of South Australia's senior lecturer in early childhood education, Martyn Mills-Bayne, said childcare centres experienced high rates of staff turnover. "The high casualisation and part-time employment nature of the workforce means that there are many educators who work across centres, for different providers," he said. A 2023 study commissioned by the Federal Government and conducted by Jobs and Skills Australia found 30 per cent of child carers were casually employed. The same report found 30 per cent of education aides in the sector were on fixed term contracts. Dr Mills-Bayne said that low wages and poor working conditions contributed to high rates of staff turnover. When authorities announced earlier this month that Mr Brown had been charged with child sex offences, Emily's* partner contacted an Affinity Education Group centre to make sure he had not worked there. She had two children at Milestones Early Learning in Greensborough. "That centre wasn't on the list, but we thought let's just check to reassure ourselves,' she told the ABC. She was shocked when the centre replied within hours and said Mr Brown had completed a shift at the service. A week later she heard about additional dates from another parent, however it took two full weeks before authorities could confirm Mr Brown worked at Milestones Early Learning in Greensborough on three occasions. Police have described the investigation to confirm Mr Brown's work history as 'extremely complex' with a lack of a centralised database meaning detectives needed to review handwritten records and shift rosters. "It's already a difficult enough situation but to be sitting here waiting for official advice is incredibly stressful,' Emily said. She was disappointed Affinity Education Group had not been personally contacting affected parents. "I feel the communication from Affinity has been insufficient, to put it lightly,' she said. "We shouldn't have to be playing detective ourselves". An Affinity spokesperson said the company was committed to supporting affected families and would continue to "cooperate fully" with authorities. G8 Education said in a statement it was "continuing to work with the Victorian Police, Victorian Government and other authorities as part of their ongoing investigation and are doing everything we can to give them the best chance of achieving justice for the children and families involved". *Name has been changed to protect her children's identities.
News.com.au
07-07-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
First-home buyer snaps up home after 12-month search
A first-home buyer has scored the keys to a Hoppers Crossing house after 12 months of trying their luck in Melbourne's real estate market. The woman purchased the four-bedroom residence at 8 Woodville Park Drive for $670,000 on the weekend, triumphing over three other bidders. The owner of 25 years, Graham Woods, said he had previously lived at the abode with his wife and stepsons. After moving to a nearby suburb they retained the house, that features an open-plan living area, formal lounge room, pergola and large backyard, as an investment property. Mr Woods' treasured memories of the home included hosting barbecues in the rear garden and installing a bar room. He's a big fan of the location that's near a medical centre, the Pacific Werribee shopping centre, public transport and has a football ground across the road. 'It's pretty close to everything,' Mr Woods said. 'The only reason we're getting rid of it is because I'm moving on.' He said that as he and his wife were planning to move interstate and travel, it would be a relief to not worry about paying the mortgage and council rates on the house. Hockingstuart Werribee director Justin Tong said that the auction began with a $560,000 bid, at the lower end of the $550,000-$600,000 asking range. He called the house on the market at the $615,000 mark. The successful buyer was keen on the home due to Hoppers Crossing train station providing good access to Melbourne's CBD, he added. 'She was excited to buy but I think she stretched herself a bit to do so, she has been looking for 12 months,' Mr Tong said. He added that mostly first-home buyers and investors, including some based interstate, who had shown interest in the home. 'Anything that is presented really well and priced accurately is doing extremely well at the moment which I think is the same across areas,' Mr Tong said. He noted that buyers who were prepared to update their homes through measures such as repainting and updating flooring often got 'a bit more bang for their buck' with move-in ready residences in demand.
News.com.au
04-07-2025
- News.com.au
Alleged childcare pedophile Joshua Brown's resume, old jobs at dojo and dance studio revealed
Alleged Melbourne childcare pedophile Joshua Brown has worked at a dance studio and karate centre, according to his resume. A Current Affair on Friday reported Mr Brown, 26, previously worked as an 'instructor' at Shindo Karate in Hoppers Crossing from 2013 to 2017, with his resume – exclusively obtained by the network – detailing he taught children during his time there. However, a spokesman for Melbourne's Shindo Karate association told NewsWire that Mr Brown was a student, never an instructor, and never would have been among children without parents and an actual instructor nearby. 'He never played a role in instruction, instructing the kids,' the spokesman said. 'And at no point whatsoever was he ever under lack of supervision; he was a student and there's always been accredited instructors, i.e. police officers, that work in the environment.' 'At no point was he ever left alone with children. At no point (have) children or parents come to us with any concerns.' On the resume, Mr Brown said he has done admin work at youth dance centre Dance Network in Melbourne's southwest since 2019. NewsWire has contacted the centre for comment, and is not suggesting Mr Brown has been accused of wrongdoing while employed at either the dance centre or the dojo. Mr Brown, 26, has been charged with 70 child sex offences after he allegedly abused eight children at a Point Cook childcare centre in southwest Melbourne. It is alleged some children were as young as five months. Parents and caregivers of 1200 children have been directed to get their kids tested for sexually transmitted infections. Police announced the charges on Tuesday, saying they were investigating Mr Brown's employment at 20 Melbourne childcare centres. They also took the unusual step of applying for Mr Brown's name suppression to be lifted, to inform families with children at the affected centres to get their young ones tested. Revelations about Mr Brown's alleged offending, and the number of childcare centres he worked at, have sparked an immediate response from politicians, despite years-old calls for national reform to working with children checks. Federal Education Minister Jason Clare said when parliament resumed this month, new laws would be introduced to allow fraud investigators to conduct random, unannounced visits at childcare centres without a warrant, and without the need to be accompanied by police. Separate laws would also allow the federal government, which currently provides $16bn of annual funding to centres, to scrap payments to places which do not meet standards. State and federal education ministers will meet to discuss how CCTV cameras can be best used to monitor childcare centres, and the national attorney-generals will work out better information sharing regimes when they meet in August. Many of these reforms were recommended by the 2015 Royal Commission into Institutionalised Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.
Daily Mail
03-07-2025
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Inside the vile threesome plea of alleged childcare monster's co-accused on wild swingers website - where he hid behind the nickname VIPER
A Melbourne man accused of raping a child, which led police to alleged horrors at a childcare centre, was seeking couples on a dating website under the nickname 'Viper', Daily Mail Australia can reveal. Michael Simon Wilson, 36, was charged with 45 sex offences on Wednesday, including rape, bestiality and possession of child abuse material. Wilson was previously active on an Australian dating website, posting on his profile under the pseudonym Viper15233 that he was 'just out of (a) long relationship' and 'looking to get back out there'. The profile on FlingFinder, a site for people looking for casual sexual encounters, featured Wilson posing in an orange work shirt and specified that he was 'seeking couples'. He added that he was happy to join male-female couples or female-female couples. The 36-year-old, from Hoppers Crossing, allegedly raped a teenage boy on April 16 and while police were investigating that matter, they discovered evidence of allegedly horrific offending by childcare worker Joshua Dale Brown. Brown, 26, from Point Cook in Melbourne 's southwest, is facing more than 70 charges including sexual penetration of a child, producing child abuse material and recklessly contaminating goods to cause alarm or anxiety. The latter charge refers to allegations that he added bodily fluids to children's food. The profile on FlingFinder, a site for people looking for casual sexual encounters, featured Wilson posing in an orange polo shirt and specified that he was 'seeking couples' It is understood Brown and Wilson are known to each other, but Wilson's charges are not related to any childcare centre and involve different alleged victims. Wilson is due to appear in court in September on the same day as Brown. Brown's alleged offending occurred during his time at Creative Garden Early Learning Centre Point Cook, where he worked between October 2021 and February 2024. Although Brown was arrested on May 12, his identity and alleged crimes could not be published until police sought to have a court suppression order lifted on Tuesday. Within a few hours, an alarming warning was issued by the Victorian Department of Health and Victoria Police, urging the parents of 1,200 children to have them tested for infectious diseases. The transmission of STIs via food is low but is increased if a person has cuts or sores. The charges against Brown have prompted the Victorian government to announce it will fast-track reforms to the childcare industry, including a ban on personal devices in childcare centres from September 26. Premier Jacinta Allan said her government would also create a register of childcare workers 'as soon as possible' to provide families with 'an extra layer of checks and balances'. The government has also commissioned an urgent review into the childcare sector, which will take about six weeks. Chief Health Officer Dr Christian McGrath said on Wednesday the testing was out of an 'an abundance of caution... (but) there's not no risk, which is why we are making this recommendation'. Brown worked at 20 childcare centres over an eight-year period between January 2017 and May 2025. Police and health authorities have contacted 2,600 families of children who attended the centres in a bid to have them tested for unnamed diseases. Brown has remained in custody since his arrest in mid-May. His Point Cook home was raided by police shortly after an investigation was launched earlier that same month. He was not known to police before his arrest and had a valid Working With Children Check, which has since been cancelled. Wilson is also being held in custody on remand.
News.com.au
02-07-2025
- News.com.au
Police charge second man with child sex abuse offences following Joshua Brown allegations
Police have revealed fresh details about the allegations surrounding a second man charged with child sexual offences, following Tuesday's revelation of the alleged large-scale sexual abuse of children at Victorian childcare centres. The allegations against the second man, Michael Simon Wilson, stem from the probe into childcare worker Joshua Brown. Yesterday, Victorian Police revealed they had charged Mr Brown, 26, with 70 offences after he allegedly abused eight children at a Point Cook childcare centre in Melbourne. It is alleged some children were as young as five months. A widespread investigation has now been launched, with Victoria's chief health officer saying 1200 children have been recommended to undergo infectious diseases testing. Mr Wilson and Mr Brown are reportedly known to each other, though the nature of the relationship is unclear. On Wednesday afternoon, Victorian Police revealed Mr Wilson was a 36-year-old man from Hoppers Crossing. 'Detectives from the Sexual Crimes Squad have charged a man in relation to an alleged sexual assault in Coburg in April,' a police spokeswoman said. 'A 36-year-old Hoppers Crossing man has been charged with a range of sexual offences including rape. 'The charges relate to an investigation into an incident in Coburg on April 16 where a teenage boy was allegedly sexually assaulted.' Mr Wilson's alleged offences are not believed to involve childcare centres or any of Mr Brown's alleged victims. Mr Brown was arrested on May 12 and is due to appear at Melbourne Magistrates Court on September 15. Mr Wilson will appear at Melbourne Magistrates Court on the same day. Police allege Mr Brown worked at 20 centres across the state between January 2017 and May 2025. On Wednesday, Education Minister Jason Clare revealed he knew a family impacted by the allegations. 'I know that they're angry because (I know) one of those parents and her two little girls are directly affected by this,' Mr Clare said on Wednesday. 'And I won't tell you what she told me last night because you can't repeat it on television, but she's right to be mad. 'I'm mad. I think anyone who works in the early education system and there's hundreds of thousands of fantastic people who do, would be angry today as well. 'And my friend is mad because of all of the stress and the trauma and the crap that she and her girls are going to have to go through in the weeks ahead.' Christian McGrath, Victoria's chief health officer, said 2600 families had been contacted in the fallout from the arrest of Mr Brown. The Department of Health has recommended 1200 children undergo screening and testing as a 'precautionary measure'. 'The risk is low, but there's not no risk, which is why we're making this recommendation,' he said in an update from Wednesday. He said the department had assisted 1300 families across Tuesday. Mr Clare said the problem of predators in childcare settings was 'serious' and required 'serious action'. 'It's one of the reasons why I put this on the top of the agenda when education ministers met last week,' he said. 'Let me be clear – when education ministers met to discuss child safety last week, we didn't discuss this case, but we discussed – what are the next steps that we need to take as a nation to make sure that our kids are safe in early education and care?' The federal government has already banned personal mobile phones in centres and changed rules around mandatory reporting from seven days to 24 hours following complaints about sexual or physical abuse. Mr Clare promised further reforms, including cutting off funding for centres that fail to meet minimum standards. He also flagged changes to background checks for workers. 'It's taken too long to do the work necessary to make sure that our Working with Children Check system is up to scratch,' he said. 'I've spoken a number of times with the Attorney-General, Michelle Rowland, the new Attorney-General, and I think I can safely speak on her behalf – she agrees, and is determined to take the action necessary here to make sure that our working with children checks across the nation are up to scratch. 'That'll be something that will be discussed by Attorneys-General when they meet next month.' He cautioned that a working with children check was not a 'silver bullet'. 'In too many examples, a perpetrator is eventually caught and arrested and sentenced, there's somebody that got a Working with Children Check because they had no prior criminal record,' he said. 'And so it's only one of the things that we need to focus on here if we're serious about making sure that we keep our kids safe.' Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan said urgent changes were also incoming for the state. 'There is a substantial amount of work that is already underway across the Commonwealth and state and territory governments to strengthen the safety in the sector,' she said in a fresh update on Wednesday. 'Here in Victoria, though, I won't wait. Families cannot wait. More needs to happen now.' The state government will immediately begin building a register for childcare workers, she said, and will bring forward a policy to ban personal devices in centres. 'To avoid delay, we'll be putting all Victorian childcare centres on notice,' she said. 'They will be required to adopt this ban on personal devices, effective from September 26. 'Childcare centres who don't comply with this ban will have this placed on them as a condition of licence and may face fines of up to $50,000. The premier will also commission an 'urgent review' into childcare safety, with more details expected at the end of the week. The review will examine the possibility of installing CCTV cameras in centres and the deploying a 'four eyes' principle, meaning children should not be left alone with a single adult. It will also review whether the five-year working with children check time frame should be shortened. The premier said she had 'not been briefed' on Mr Wilson's arrest. Some families will be eligible for a $5000 support payment, the government has confirmed, to help cover alternative care arrangements, loss of earnings and other practical needs in the fallout from Tuesday.
