Ombudsman declared childcare system ‘Broken’ in 2022 and Labor did nothing

After months of inaction, The Nationals Member for Ovens Valley, Tim McCurdy, says the referral of Victoria’s childcare regulator to the Ombudsman is a long-overdue step that brings some relief to concerned families.

A full investigation into the Quality Assessment and Regulation Division (QARD)—the body responsible for overseeing compliance and safety in early childhood education, will now take place following sustained pressure from The Nationals and the Liberals.

“Regional families, like all Victorian families, deserve to know their children are safe and protected when they’re in care,” Mr McCurdy said.

“The Allan Labor Government has ignored repeated warnings, blocked reforms, and failed to fix a system that is clearly broken.”

This comes despite the Ombudsman declaring in 2022 that the state’s childcare system was failing, urging the government to act. Yet Labor chose to sit on their hands while serious risks to child safety continued.

The Ombudsman’s investigation will examine:

• Shocking reports of child sexual abuse involving one worker across at least 24 childcare centres, impacting more than 2,000 children;

• Labor’s failure to act on a 2022 Ombudsman report warning of serious flaws in Victoria’s Working With Children Check system;

• The lack of mandatory training and a centralised educator register to improve oversight;

• A 45 per cent rise in complaints to QARD since 2018, alongside a 67 per cent drop in enforcement actions;

• QARD’s exclusion from the government’s Rapid Child Safety Review.

“This should never have happened,” Mr McCurdy said. “But while Labor looked the other way, The Nationals and the Liberals stood up and demanded action.”

“Children’s safety must come before politics. Labor has continuously failed to act, but thanks to the efforts of The Nationals and the Liberals, common sense will prevail, and the Ombudsman will now investigate the full extent of these failures.”