Thursday, 31 July 2025

Questions without notice and ministers statements

Early childhood education and care

Georgie CROZIER (Southern Metropolitan) (12:00): (981) My question is to the Minister for Children. Minister, do you stand by your own letter to the department secretary dated 17 September 2024, as follows:

STATEMENT OF EXPECTATIONS FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AS REGULATORY AUTHORITY FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AND CARE

Lizzie BLANDTHORN (Western Metropolitan – Minister for Children, Minister for Disability) (12:00): I thank Ms Crozier for her question. I have the very letter concerned right here. Yes, I do. To go to Ms Crozier’s comments yesterday, when she sought to misrepresent this letter and suggested that in some way my answers to the questions the day before had been inaccurate, particularly in relation to the working with children check, I would read to her the paragraph that says:

I expect QARD to continue to work closely with other Victorian regulatory partners on child safety and protection, including the Commission for Children and Young People, Working with Children Check Victoria, and the Department of Families, Fairness and Housing.

It does not in this letter in any way claim, contrary to the general orders, that I have responsibility for the working with children check.

Georgie CROZIER (Southern Metropolitan) (12:01): But you do have responsibility for children. As you stand by this letter, Minister, the statement of expectations says the priorities are to:

Support duty holders to understand the value of compliance and harm reduction

And the expectation is to:

Work closely with other Victorian regulatory partners on child safety and protection.

So I ask: what action did you take following the Ombudsman report in 2022?

Lizzie BLANDTHORN (Western Metropolitan – Minister for Children, Minister for Disability) (12:02): I thank Ms Crozier for her question. Of course I would hope that everybody in this chamber – and the letter is a publicly available document – stands by the principles of that letter, which are seeking to ensure that in all of the areas across the vast array of areas of government operations that are impacted by the Minister for Children, or for which I have responsibility as Minister for Children, we work towards child safety in all of those circumstances. As I have said on a number of occasions over many weeks, many of my responsibilities in relation to maternal and child health, in relation to child protection and in relation to early education are critical, but the gravest responsibility that we all have is to keep children safe. I have said that a number of times in this chamber previously. I have said it in recent weeks, and I will say it again today.

In response to Ms Crozier’s question – and again, I have already said this publicly – if you take the DFFH aspects of the Ombudsman’s report, they were implemented. I have spoken to that publicly on a number of occasions – that the recommendations that related to DFFH – (Time expired)