Latest news with #SusieO'Brien
7NEWS
03-07-2025
- 7NEWS
Outrage as Working with Children Check only takes 30 minutes and requires a simple online form
It has been revealed that the Working with Children Check (WWCC) is only a 30-minute online form for anyone without a criminal record. A major spotlight has this week been put on child safety tools after a man was charged with 70 offences at a Melbourne childcare centre. Childcare worker Joshua Brown, 26, has been charged in relation to eight victims who attended a Point Cook childcare centre between April 2022 and January 2023. A Working with Children Check usually handles state-by-state but involves a national police check and a review of reportable workplace misconduct. Previously, the check has been a key safety tool used to ensure kids are being kept safe. The Herald Sun compared the online form with Victoria's Responsible Service of Alcohol course, which requires up to 10 hours of training in order to become certified. A number of childhood sexual abuse advocates, including Australian Childhood Foundation survivor Emma Hakansson, 25, said it was 'laughable' that governments considered the current checks acceptable. 'The adult who sexually abused me also had a WWCC,' she said in a report in the publication. 'The WWCC could be a tool to arm safe adults with training to keep children safe, and it's absurd we trust adults with children without any training, while training is required to serve alcohol, even to handle food.' On Friday, journalists Luke Bona and Susie O'Brien joined Nat Barr on Sunrise to discuss the relative ease in meeting the Working with Children Check requirement. Both called for tougher regulations. 'The story that has sparked all this is the most horrific thing,' Bona said. 'Remember, everybody is presumed innocent until proven guilty, but the spotlight is certainly on the safety and welfare of our children. 'The safety of our children is the most important thing we can offer, and we must provide. 'So, I take my hat off to Hetty Johnson from Bravehearts who's going to form her own course. 'But it's got to be mandatory, because the message is, we've got to keep kids safe at all costs.' This week, journalist Susie O'Brien reported that educators facing serious allegations can still work in childcare centres for up to two years due to regulatory issues. They are often allowed to work during the investigation. 'The comparison between the RSA and the Working with Children Check is really interesting, because you can be fined $10,000 for serving someone drunk,' O'Brien began. 'You probably lose your job, find it hard to get another job. 'But you can be a childcare worker who molests a toddler. 'Yes, you will lose your job, but you can continue working in other centres for up to two years, while they and decide if you're guilty or not, particularly in this state, but other states as well. 'It can take up to two years for a predator to be removed from childcare centres, and that is a massive problem.'
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Tyrone community rededicates train wreck memorial
BLAIR COUNTY (WTAJ) – May 30 will mark 132 years since the Walter L. Main circus train wreck in Tyrone. The train derailed early that Memorial Day morning after it was pulling more weight than it was designed for. Members of the Tyrone Historical Society held a rededication ceremony for the new monument replacing the old one. The old monument had stood there for fifty years and was in poor condition. But that monument won't be thrown away, instead, it was given to Snyder Township. 'When it started to crumble, we didn't know what to do, but with the help of Snyder Township and me trying to find out, we finally decided it belonged to the township,' Susie O'Brien of the Tyrone Historical Society said. The new monument is located at Van Scoyoc Hollow Road in Tyrone, where the crash happened. A smaller marker also stands in Grandview Cemetery next to the gravesite of two circus crew members who died in the crash. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Sky News AU
28-05-2025
- Politics
- Sky News AU
‘Hilarious': Emmanuel Macron publicly ‘embarrassed' by wife following shove in the face
Herald Sun's Susie O'Brien has reacted to the viral clip of the moment French President Emmanuel Macron was shoved in the face by his wife, Brigitte. 'It's hilarious – they tried to say it was a moment of togetherness. I'm pretty sure it's illegal to have those kinds of moments of togetherness,' she told Sky News host Danica De Giorgio. 'I mean, this is just embarrassment.'
Sky News AU
22-04-2025
- Politics
- Sky News AU
‘A breath of fresh air': Pope Francis paved the way for ‘modernisation' of Catholic church
Herald Sun's Susie O'Brien discusses the recent passing of Pope Francis. 'He was a breath of fresh air for the Catholic church, everybody is calling him the people's pope,' Ms O'Brien told Sky News host Chris Kenny. "I think a lot of younger people identified with him. 'People would like to see the church to continue this modernisation.'
