Thursday 14 August 2025
Statement from the Shadow Attorney-General and Shadow Minister for Education
Premier Jacinta Allan’s continued refusal to take decisive action to protect children in childcare and educational settings is a failure of leadership.
More than 24 hours on from revelations that an individual dismissed from a childcare centre for grooming and kissing children still has an active Working With Children Check and the Premier still cannot guarantee when this individual’s WWCC will be revoked.
Worse still, the loopholes that have enabled this situation to occur are the exact loopholes a Liberals and Nationals Bill introduced last week to Parliament would have addressed.
Instead of supporting this new legislation, Premier Jacinta Allan blocked these laws and continues to place children at unacceptable risk.
Had the Premier and her government supported the Liberals and Nationals’ Worker Screening Amendment (Safety of Children) Bill 2025, the government would have had the power to immediately revoke this individual’s Working With Children Check.
The Premier and Victorian Government must put politics aside, work with the Parliament and pass these laws now.