Tuesday, 22 September 2026

 Ann-Marie HERMANS (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (23:48): (2824) My adjournment matter is to the Premier, and the action I seek is for the government to explain why it only apologised for historical child sexual abuse that occurred in government schools prior to the year 2000. I ask the Premier to acknowledge the victims of child sexual abuse whose lives have been shattered over the past 26 years and to clearly explain steps this government will take to better equip child educators to identify grooming behaviour and inappropriate sexualised curriculum in schools, outlining what robust measures it will take to prevent child sexual abuse and sexual grooming conversations and behaviours with minors in our classrooms.

There needs to be an inquiry into what is being taught in Victorian schools, particularly in primary schools, as conversations about sexual pleasure are not suitable for children and should not be taught by schoolteachers. Even reproductive sexual content should only be taught with a parent’s full knowledge and consent and the option to be present in the child’s class. Under Labor and the Greens in Canberra, former primary school principal Janelle Rowe was recently forced out of a 34-year career for opting for a ‘Bullying. No Way!’ week over Wear It Purple Day because she did not want her staff and children to be forced to have age-inappropriate discussions about sexuality. How many educators in Victoria have left the profession due to similar concerns?

Sexual abuse of children is profoundly damaging. The wounds inflicted are deep, and victims may not heal. Under Labor families had their lives shattered last year when 2000 babies aged six months to two years had to be tested for sexually transmitted diseases just because of one childcare worker. The alleged paedophile worked undetected at 23 childcare centres between 2017 and 2025.

According to the Commission for Children and Young People almost 1000 abuse and misconduct allegations were made against childcare workers and early educators this past year. Meanwhile, three coaches were stood down for grooming minors in just one community sport. New data shows an increasing number of children, some as young as five years old, are phoning Kids Helpline requesting urgent help to save them from sexual abuse. For every report made there are countless others suffering in silence. Easy access to pornography and horrific online content have unleashed a tsunami of criminal abuse. In the 2024–25 financial year the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation received a staggering 82,764 reports of online child sexual abuse. That is 226 reports a day, with each report containing sickening images and videos of children being sexually abused or exploited. This year a primary school teacher was caught with a hidden camera, filming children in the school toilet. Perpetrators accessing children in schools and services regulated by the Carroll Labor government must be stopped and held accountable for their crimes. What is concealed needs to be brought out into the open.