Victoria's working with children check system slammed over repeated failures
In short:
A national working with children check system recommended a decade ago by a royal commission is yet to be established.
Victoria's checks are the least rigorous in Australia and do not necessarily disqualify people who are facing serious allegations.
What's next?
National Children's Commissioner Anne Hollonds says Australia's lack of a national approach is unacceptable, and she urges the national cabinet to make child safety a priority.
Victorian couple Erin and Dylan were enjoying a well-earned holiday in Queensland with their two-year-old son when a call from home left them reeling.
A staff member from their son Lachie's Melbourne childcare centre was on the line asking them to come in as soon as possible.
When they did, they were ushered into a room and shown CCTV footage recorded a week earlier that showed Lachie's daycare room.
They drew breath as an educator looked around, grabbed their son by the wrist, smacked him and dragged him across the room.
The educator was filmed smacking and dragging Lachie at the centre in 2023. (Supplied)
"[I felt] physically ill," Erin said.
She and Dylan reported the incident to police and followed up the childcare centre's reports to the Victorian Department of Education and the Commissioner for Children and Young People.
The educator was fired, but police did not press charges.
Lachie's parents learned the educator's working with children check (WWCC) credentials would not be revoked unless charges were issued.
The educator could continue to work in childcare centres despite being the subject of four different investigations into their behaviour.
"It's terrifying," Erin said.
"I can't believe that anyone who would lay hands on a child or hurt a child in any way would be allowed to work with them — it makes no sense."
Melbourne parents Erin and Dylan were appalled by what they saw happen to their son. (ABC News: Simon Tucci)
Hamstrung by laws, ex-commissioner says
An ABC investigation has found that Victoria has the most limited laws of any state or territory for deciding who is fit to work with children.
Victoria's Working with Children Check unit cannot consider evidence of abuse or concerning behaviour that has not resulted in a criminal charge or a disciplinary or regulatory finding.
All other states and territories allow more information to be considered during child safety risk assessments.
Liana Buchanan spoke to the ABC during her last week as Commissioner for Children and Young People, a position she held since 2016. (ABC News: Sean Warren)
Liana Buchanan, who resigned from her role as Victorian Children's Commissioner in March, said she had lobbied the state government to change the law since 2019.
"Where there has been a gap that has been identified and it has been sat there not acted on for some years, it makes me frustrated and it makes me distressed," Ms Buchanan said during her final week in the position.
In 2022 the Victorian Ombudsman recommended the state urgently change its laws after a youth worker was cleared to work with children despite facing sexual offence allegations, including rape, in New South Wales.
The worker was subsequently convicted of raping a 13-year-old Victorian.
Ms Buchanan said her office was hamstrung by laws that prevented her from informing the WWCC unit of the allegations.
Despite this restriction, she said her office had referred almost 2,000 people to have their clearance reassessed during her 10 years in the job.
But Ms Buchanan said her hands were tied all too often.
"No matter what degree of evidence or information of concern that strongly suggests that an individual poses a risk to children, we can't unilaterally share that with Working with Children Checks," she said.
'More needs to be done'
Premier Jacinta Allan told the ABC she had asked the attorney-general and the minister for government services to "urgently review" the legislation.
"It is clear to me, as the premier today, that the system does need to be strengthened," Ms Allan said.
"Clearly more needs to be done."
Jacinta Allan says she had asked for an investigation into potential gaps in the WWCC processes. (ABC News)
She did not give a deadline for the review but said it needed to be done "efficiently and thoroughly".
Ms Buchanan said the issue had been raised numerous times, with no action yet.
"We have raised this with government, with the former Attorney-General and in submissions to government a number of times," she said.
"I honestly can't speak to why this has not been acted on."
National Children’s Commissioner Anne Hollonds says the lack of action is unacceptable. (AAP: Bianca De Marchi)
Issues left to 'languish'
In 2015 the Royal Commission into Institutionalised Responses to Child Sexual Abuse was scathing of Australia's eight separate state and territory WWCC systems.
They were described as "inconsistent and complex", with no integration and inadequate information sharing, and the commission recommended the Commonwealth urgently set up a national system to help prevent predators "forum shopping".
Ten years later the implementation of that recommendation remains a work in progress.
"I think it's unacceptable that we have let these issues languish for as long as we have," National Children's Commissioner Anne Hollonds said.
"I think it's time we stepped up and made child safety a priority."
She urged the national cabinet to make child safety a priority.
Lachie is now aged four and doing well, but his mum and dad say they find it hard to place trust in the system. (ABC News: Simon Tucci)
The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission (ACIC) is working to develop "national continuous checking capability", which involves combining all state and territory police databases for a "near real-time" checking system.
The National Office for Child Safety is working for "standardisation" across all jurisdictions, but there is no indication when the measures will be ready for implementation.
The ABC understands the educator who hit Lachie eventually had their WWCC revoked more than two months after the 2023 incident.
Lachie is now four years old and thriving, but the ordeal has shaken his parents' trust in the system.
"As a parent … you go to a centre where they say all the educators have a WWCC," Dylan said.
"Something like this happens, you realise it's not black and white.
"You lose a lot of faith."