Wednesday 27 August 2025
Labor again fails Victorian children and families
The Jacinta Allan Labor Government has again failed Victorian families and left the safety of children at unacceptable risk.
Last night, the Labor Government, together with the Greens, the Animal Justice Party, Legalise Cannabis Victoria, and the Libertarian Party voted down new laws brought forward by the Liberals and Nationals to fully implement recommendations made by the Victorian Ombudsman to fix our broken Working With Children Check (WWCC) system.
Labor has ignored the recommendations since 2022 when the Ombudsman found Victoria had one of weakest systems in the Commonwealth.
Despite the Ombudsman’s warning, for three years Labor failed to act and even now, in response to allegations of abhorrent sexual abuse at Victorian childcare centres, the Allan Labor Government’s latest legislation fails to fully acquit the Ombudsman’s 2022 recommendations.
During debate on the Bill, the Government confirmed that an individual under police investigation or arrested in relation to child sexual abuse allegations could continue to hold a WWCC.
Shadow Attorney-General Michael O’Brien said: “The Allan Labor Government has put ideology ahead of children’s safety. In rejecting our amendments to implement the Victorian Ombudsman’s three-year-old recommendations, this government has decided that political conformity trumps children’s safety.
“The only winners out of rejecting our amendments to adopt the Ombudsman’s recommendations are those who would do children harm.”
Shadow Minister for Education Jess Wilson said: “Premier Allan has failed a test of leadership and has left Victorian children at an unacceptable risk.
“It is shameful that for the second time in a month Labor has voted down laws that would fully implement recommendations from the Victorian Ombudsman designed to keep children safe.
“Recommendations this Government has ignored for three years.
“These are commonsense reforms that should be law now, instead under Labor they remain loopholes within a system that continues to catastrophically fail Victorian children on their watch.”