Victoria Police have charged 26-year-old childcare worker Joshua Dale Brown with more than 70 offences, including the alleged sexual abuse of eight children aged between five months and two years old. The charges span his employment at 20 childcare centres across Melbourne between January 2017 and May 2025.
Authorities have contacted approximately 2,600 families whose children attended these centres, with 1,200 children advised to undergo testing for sexually transmitted infections. The case has prompted widespread outrage and an urgent safety review of the early childhood education sector.
Experts argue that while such offending is extremely rare, the rapid expansion of the sector has outstripped regulatory oversight. Between 2013 and 2023, the number of childcare places in Australia increased by 50%, with long daycare places rising by 69%. Currently, over one million households use childcare services.
A Productivity Commission report released in September 2024 found that state and territory regulatory agencies are under-resourced and that the system is not functioning effectively. Professor Deborah Brennan, co-author of the report, noted that additional resourcing is needed for these agencies.
Advocates are calling for a full-scale review and the introduction of national oversight to ensure children's safety. Lisa Bryant, a consultant in early education, emphasised that abuse in childcare settings occurs more frequently than it should and that workforce and regulatory issues have allowed perpetrators to evade detection.
