On 2 July 2025, the Victorian Government announced an urgent review into child safety in education and care services in Victoria. The Rapid Child Safety Review was conducted by Jay Weatherhill AO and Pam White PSM.

On 15 August 2025, the Final Report was provided to the Victorian government for its consideration.[1]

On 20 August 2025, the Victorian Government released the Final Report and its response.[2]

Recommendations to the Victorian government

Here is a summary of the recommendations made to the Victorian government:

Education and care services reforms

• Design the Early Childhood Workforce Register in Victoria in a way that will be compatible with the National Early Childhood Worker Register (when established) (Recommendation 4.3).
• Issue an updated Statement of Expectations to QARD that asks it to increase its focus on the way in which approved providers:
  • recruit new staff, casuals and labour hire including whether they:
    • undertake background checks
    • ask child safety questions in interviews
    • conduct reference checks with at least two previous employers, including those that are not listed as referees.
  • induct staff, casuals, labour hire and volunteers so that they know their responsibilities regarding:
    • keeping children safe
    • staff codes of conduct
    • expected behaviours
    • how to report or raise concerns
  • embed child safe cultures, including their leadership, governance and codes of conduct (Recommendation 5).
• Issue modified ratings certificates to education and care services which include the period of time that the service has been rated as ‘Working Towards the National Quality Standards’ and require the approved provider to prominently display this information in the reception area and on their website (Recommendation 17.3).
• Publish the full scope of permitted compliance and enforcement activity on QARD’s website (Recommendation 17.4).
• Conduct a Capability Review for QARD so that will support it to:
  • address complex for profit approved providers, associated entities and corporate relationships
  • improve consistency of Authorised Officer assessments
  • incorporate contemporary evidence on child sexual offending
  • regulate individual employees
  • better use technology in assessing risk (Recommendation 11.1).
• Create a regulator for education and care services in Victoria that is independent of the Department of Education (Recommendation 9) and that:
  • increases the volume and frequency of unannounced compliance visits so that they occur at least once per service every 12 months
  • reduce the average time between Assessment and Rating visits (Recommendation 10).
• Fund the education and care services regulator so that it properly delivers its functions (Recommendation 13.1)
• Update the ‘PROTECT’ training for educators to include:
  • child sexual abuse prevention
  • how to teach children about:
    • body safety
    • consent
    • social and emotional learning
    • seeking help (Recommendation 20.3)
  • Expand the Children’s Safety and Safeguarding in Early Childhood Settings professional support program to include:
    • latest evidence and best practice on child safety and safeguarding
    • how to build a child safe culture
    • recruitment, training and supervision of a child safe workforce
    • responding to risks (Recommendation 21.1).
  • Provide training and clear guidance on how education and care services staff can:
    • report concerns, allegations and complaints
    • make anonymous reports to regulators (Recommendation 22).

Working with Children Scheme reforms

• Change the Working with Children Scheme to:
  • require applicants to complete mandatory online child safety training and testing before being granted a Working with Children Clearance
  • allow unsubstantiated information (e.g. from police, child protection or other relevant bodies) to be obtained, shared and considered in order to assess, refuse, temporarily suspend or revoke a WWCC
  • permit a WWCC re-assessment when the regulatory authority becomes aware of new information or intelligence
  • require organisations to verify that a worker or volunteer has provided accurate historical and current information about their movements across organisations
  • create an internal review process for decisions made
  • remove the ability to seek review at VCAT (Recommendations 6.1 – 6.3).
• Fund the Working with Children regulatory authority so that it is resourced to undertake more manual assessments and interventions (Recommendation 6.4).
• Work with the Commonwealth government and other states and territories to develop a national approach to Working with Children laws and advocate for a national database that is able to support real time monitoring of people with WWCC (Recommendation 6.5)

Reportable Conduct Scheme reforms

• Change the Reportable Conduct Scheme so that:
  • It can proactively share unsubstantiated allegations with relevant regulators and agencies.
  • It must share substantiated findings of reportable conduct i.e. there is no discretion.
  • It can recognise a finding or investigation under another state or territory’s Reportable Conduct Scheme where the reportable allegations is also captured under the Victorian scheme (Recommendation 7.1).
• Fund the Reportable Conduct Scheme so that it keeps pace with demand and the number of notifications (Recommendation 7.2).

Shared Intelligence and Risk Assessment Capability

• Design and establish a new Shared Intelligence and Risk Assessment Capability that:
  • joins up the ‘breadcrumbs’ i.e. it can quickly scan information and flag patterns of concern
  • equips assessors with fit for purpose risk assessment tools so they can exercise sound judgment about an individual’s suitability to work with children
  • complements and works together with other regulatory schemes so there is a common foundation across social services, disability services and aged care services to better protect all vulnerable people (Recommendation 8.1).

Consolidation of child safety regulation

• Bring together administration of the Working with Children Scheme and the Reportable Conduct Scheme into a single entity to strengthen the safety net around children (Recommendation 8.2).

Information for parents

• Publish advice for parents on prevention education, signs of grooming, and how to raise concerns on existing and trusted channels such as:
  • maternal and child health services
  • supported playgroups
  • Raising Children Network
  • Better Health Channel
  • Victorian Parents Portal (Recommendation 18.1)
• Publish advice for parents on how to make complaints or raise concerns with their education and care service and QARD, including via the public complaints and enquiry hotline (Recommendation 18.2).

The Victorian Government has confirmed that it accepts all of these recommendations and is committed to implementing them.

Recommendations to the Commonwealth government

Here is a summary of the recommendations made to the Commonwealth government:

• Re-think the education and care services system (Recommendation 2.1).
• Establish a time-limited Early Childhood Reform Commission to prioritise national education and care services reforms that is informed by a parent advisory group (Recommendation 3).
• Provide stronger powers to the Australian Skills Quality Authority to address poor quality registered training organisations, including those that are also providers of education and care services, so that students are better prepared to work in an education and care services setting (Recommendation 19)
• Establish a National Early Childhood Worker Register covering all education and care services staff across Australia who have regular contact with children, including casual staff (Recommendation 4.1).
• Amend the National Law to:
  • make the safety, rights and best interests of children the paramount consideration for staff, managers, service providers, their owners, funders and board members (Recommendation 1)
  • require all people involved in the provision of education and care services, including those who may not directly work with children, to complete mandatory child safety training (Recommendation 20.1)
  • de-register individuals based on an assessment of their suitability to work in education and care services (Recommendation 4.2).
  • remove or amend the ‘roofline’ rule (Recommendation 14)
  • tighten rules that permit staff to work in education and care services if they are ‘working towards a qualification’ (Recommendation 14)
  • increase the maximum penalty amounts for offences under the National Law (Recommendation 12)
  • appoint a trusted, high-quality provider to take over a service that has had its funding and other approvals cancelled, to enable continuity of services for families (Recommendation 2.2).
  • require education and care services to display the following information on their website and to share this information with parents and prospective parents whenever it changes:
    • quality and assessment rating
    • any enforcement action taken against them (Recommendation 17.2).

• Consider implementing the ‘four eyes’ rule i.e. 2 adults are visible to each other while with children (Recommendation 14).
• Implement a national trial of CCTV in education and care services so that they can be used as a regulatory and investigative tool (Recommendation 16).
• Improve information for parents about service quality and compliance on the Starting Blocks website including:
  • which National Quality Standards and sub-elements are not being met
  • service and provider ownership
  • compliance history (Recommendation 17.1).
• Reinstate funding for state and territory regulators, and increase the level of funding provided, in recognition of the significant growth of the education and care services sector (Recommendation 13.2).
• Fund time release for all staff to undertake child safety training (Recommendation 20.2).
• Fund a Child Care Quality Improvement Program (Recommendation 21.2).
• Fund a Child Safe Buildings Grants Program for fixtures and fittings or minor construction works that clear lines of sight in existing education and care services (Recommendation 15).
• Commission the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission to investigate ways to address the complex legal structure and arrangements being used in the education and care services sector so that Regulatory Authorities can effectively regulate them under the National law (Recommendation 11.2).

We will continue to keep you informed about all of the initiatives that are being implemented to better protect the safety and wellbeing of children.

In the meantime, if you would like any advice on how you can improve the safety, quality and care that you provide to children and young people, please feel free to contact us for a confidential and obligation free discussion.

 

 

Elena Totino

Founder, Director & Principal Lawyer

Safety Quality & Care Legal Services

 

August 2025

[1] State of Victoria, Department of Premier and Cabinet, Weatherill, Jay & White, Pam, Rapid Child Safety Review, 15 August 2025, https://www.vic.gov.au/rapid-child-safety-review (accessed 20 August 2025)

[2] State of Victoria, Victorian Government Response to Rapid Child Safety Review, https://www.vic.gov.au/rapid-child-safety-review (accessed 20 August 2025)