Thursday, 14 August 2025

 Georgie CROZIER (Southern Metropolitan) (12:00): (1005) My question is to the Minister for Children. Minister, in relation to the performance of the government’s childcare regulator, the quality assessment and regulation division of the Department of Education, you have said:

QARD is effectively doing its job …

Do you stand by this praise for the regulator’s performance?

 Lizzie BLANDTHORN (Western Metropolitan – Minister for Children, Minister for Disability) (12:00): I thank Ms Crozier for her question. Again, it is a question very similar to ones that Ms Crozier has already asked me a number of times in recent weeks in the chamber, but I am more than happy to continue to speak to it. Indeed yesterday Ms Crozier referred to an article in the Age that spoke to some of the enforcement activities that had been undertaken by the regulator. In the conduct of its duties the regulator continues to act on every notification or complaint, and the regulator leads the nation in delivering high-quality early childhood education regulation, with 96 per cent of services meeting or exceeding the national quality standard, well above the average of 91 per cent. Indeed this is an improvement from 2016, when 82 per cent of services were rated as meeting or above.

The Victorian regulatory authority completed 4729 inspections of early childhood services in 2024 against a target of 4000 to ensure compliance with the national law, regulations and of course the child safe standards, and at the end of 2024, 97 per cent of Victorian services had been visited by the regulatory authority within the past two years. Services found to need additional monitoring based on compliance history or other risk factors were also visited more often. As you would expect, the regulator takes a risk-based approach to monitoring, but of course, as we have said, there is more to do. Despite the fearmongering of those opposite, the rapid review that we have announced is looking at the options for the regulator. As I have said on the record on a number of occasions, this was also something where I had, prior to the events of recent weeks and prior to the discussion of recent weeks, already been asking the department to look at options for further enhancing the role of the regulator.

 Georgie CROZIER (Southern Metropolitan) (12:03): Minister, given the failure of the regulator to pick up glaring red flags, investigate compliance failures or follow up on complaints – including failing to close Smart Children Early Learning for over a year despite knowledge of a series of child safety breaches that were recorded during a visit to the centre; failing to investigate complaints about child safety breaches at Creative Garden Early Learning Centre, the centre where alleged offender Joshua Brown worked at the time the complaint was made; and failing to prevent an individual who was dismissed from a childcare centre for sexual misconduct, for grooming toddlers, from continuing to work in childcare centres for four years after they were made aware of this substantiated report and dismissal – why has the government regulator failed so catastrophically in doing its job to keep children safe?

 Lizzie BLANDTHORN (Western Metropolitan – Minister for Children, Minister for Disability) (12:03): Again I thank Ms Crozier for her question, and again I highlight that her very question actually speaks to actions having been taken by the regulator. If we take the example of Smart Children, where Ms Crozier is referring to reporting in the Age on this matter, my advice is that the regulatory authority took prompt action and used all available regulatory actions under the Education and Care Services National Law and acted as swiftly as operationally and legally feasible in response to escalating concerns about the suitability of the person with management control and the approved provider for Smart Children Early Learning. Indeed their decisions were affirmed by VCAT earlier this year. Those opposite should be very careful about simply relying on reports in newspapers to draft their questions and make assertions. I would indicate that there are indeed factual inaccuracies in the article on which Ms Crozier is basing much of her question. But as I have said publicly already and I have previously said prior to these current events, and as I said in answer to the substantive question – (Time expired)