Tuesday, 29 July 2025

Early childhood education and care

David DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan) (14:03): (969) My question is also to the Minister for Children. Minister, you recently stated that the Victorian childcare regulator, the quality assessment and regulation division, is effectively doing its job. Given a man that has been charged with 73 child abuse offences was able to work in almost 25 childcare centres over multiple years, do the minister and government stand by their position that QARD is doing its job effectively?

Lizzie BLANDTHORN (Western Metropolitan – Minister for Children, Minister for Disability) (14:03): I thank Mr Davis for his question. As I said in my ministers statement, I will not jeopardise the current investigation by going –

Members interjecting.

Gayle Tierney: On a point of order – I think you know what my point of order is going to be, President – I cannot hear the minister. She is sitting right next to me. There is just continual loud screaming and yelling from the opposite side.

The PRESIDENT: Mr Davis, if you could keep your interjections a bit – actually stopping them would be good. But you being the person that asked the question, it would be good for the minister to get a chance to answer it without interjection.

Lizzie BLANDTHORN: As I was attempting to say, I will not comment on the individual circumstances in relation to the accused because I do not think any of us in this place want to jeopardise the process of justice being applied in these circumstances – in any circumstances – given the abhorrence of what we are talking about. But in relation to the performance of the regulator, I am more than happy to report to the house – and I have made these positions clear in recent times – that at the end of 2024, 97 per cent of Victorian services had been visited by the regulatory authority within the past two years. We lead the nation in delivering high-quality early childhood education and care, with 96 per cent of services meeting or exceeding the national quality standard, well above the national average of 91 per cent. And certainly 98 per cent of national quality framework approved services were visited in the last two calendar years. I can keep talking. When it comes to staffing, the latest data shows that the proportion of services with a staffing waiver in Victoria across early childhood services was 1.2 per cent – this compares to the national average of 7.9 per cent – and for long daycare services specifically, 1 per cent of those services in Victoria were staffing waivers, compared to 13 per cent nationally. So when it comes to the regulator in Victoria, the statistics show that the regulator is exceeding its targets. But as we have said, if there is more to do, we will do it. We have commissioned a rapid review. We have indicated that we will accept every recommendation coming out of that review, and that is exactly what we will do post 15 August.

David DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan) (14:06): I regard that as an offensive answer of blather that ignores the fact that the minister herself had said the regulator is doing a good job when it is clearly not. I therefore ask: given the horrific circumstances that have occurred in Victorian childcare centres, why has the government chosen to exclude the Victorian childcare regulator from its review? Is this to avoid scrutiny?

Lizzie BLANDTHORN (Western Metropolitan – Minister for Children, Minister for Disability) (14:07): Ms Gray-Barberio has already asked a question of a similar nature, and I indicated that it is a disingenuous misrepresentation. The rapid review can and will look at the system of regulation. We did not intend to impede the current investigations of QARD working with Victoria Police in relation to the situation of the accused, which I will not go into. But it absolutely remains open to the rapid review to look at the system of regulation, and I expect that they will do so. The other thing that Mr Davis might be interested in is that since 2015 QARD prohibition notices have increased annually by 500 per cent under our government. How many prohibition notices did those opposite issue – one.

David Davis: I move that the minister’s shameful answer be taken into account on the next day of meeting.

The PRESIDENT: I cannot put that question in the form it was put.

Georgie CROZIER (Southern Metropolitan) (14:08): I move:

That the minister’s answer be taken into consideration on the next day of meeting.

Motion agreed to.