Target of Petition:
To: The Hon. Ben Carroll MP (Minister for Education, VIC), The Hon. Amanda Rishworth MP (Federal Minister for Social Services), and the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA)

 
Australia has failed to protect its most vulnerable children.

A childcare worker in Victoria has been charged with over 70 child abuse offences, yet was able to work across multiple childcare centres undetected. He held a valid Working with Children Check (WWCC). There were no alerts. No national database. No automatic suspension. This is a catastrophic failure of our child safety system.

This disturbing case follows at least one other recent incident in Australia where a childcare worker faced serious allegations but continued working due to loopholes and inadequate cross-state communication. These ongoing failures demonstrate systemic gaps that put children at continued risk while investigations proceed—sometimes for years.

In schools, teachers must report any suspicions of abuse and fill in detailed referrals like the SP4 (Queensland) — triggering leadership and police involvement. In childcare settings, however, this level of accountability does not exist nationally.

We demand immediate reform.

 
We call on all state and federal governments to:
Create a national WWCC system with:

• Real-time flagging
  Cross-state communication
  Automatic suspension when a worker is under investigation
  Make all childcare workers mandated reporters
• Legal obligation to report any suspicion or disclosure of harm
  Penalties for non-reporting (as in schools)
  Introduce a national reporting protocol
• Immediate reporting to police and suspension of the worker
  Notifications sent to all childcare employers and regulators
  Establish a national alert system
• Notify all states when a person is under investigation or suspended
  Ensure justice for victims
• Access to trauma support
  Financial compensation for those harmed in early childhood settings
  Protect wrongly accused workers
• Fair investigations
• Wage compensation if cleared of wrongdoing

 
Enough is enough.
We need to protect our children better than we protect liquor licenses.

This is not political. It is a moral obligation. The lives, wellbeing, and trust of Australian families are at stake.

Sign and share this petition if you believe childcare safety should be urgent, consistent, and national.