Australia vows tougher childcare laws after worker charged with child sex offences

By Christine Chen

SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australia plans new measures to strip funding from childcare centres that fall short of safety norms after a Melbourne man was charged with more than 70 offences over child sex abuse in a case that alarmed thousands of families.

The incident has revived scrutiny of Australia’s early childcare sector less than a year after a former worker was jailed for life over the sexual abuse of almost 70 children.

Police said on Tuesday they had arrested and charged in May a 26-year-old childcare worker from the state of Victoria, whom they identified as Joshua Brown, with the offences involving eight victims aged from five months to two years.

On Wednesday, media said police also charged another man, known to Brown, with child sex abuse offences.

Both men have not entered a plea and could not immediately be reached for comment. Reuters could not trace contact details for their lawyers.

After the accusations, authorities contacted thousands of families linked to the case and advised tests on about 1,200 children to rule out exposure to infectious diseases.

Australia's Education Minister Jason Clare has asked his department to urgently draft new laws to let the government pull funding for childcare centres that were not "up to scratch" on standards of safety.

"It's about making sure that, if services aren't up to scratch, that they aren't meeting the safety and quality standards we expect ... that we have the power as a government to cut their funding off," Clare told a press conference.

Clare said he would also examine reforms to the permit system for working with children, after police said Brown held a valid permit at the time of his arrest.

State premier Jacinta Allan said the "sickening" accusations prompted many to ask, "How could this sort of offending be possible within a childcare centre?"

The state would fast-track national changes under discussion, such as adopting a register for childcare workers and a ban on the use of personal devices in centres from September 26, Allan told another press conference on Wednesday.

"My government will take every action possible, as soon as possible, to strengthen safety standards in early childhood settings and care, and to keep Victorian children safe," she added.

The government will also consider installing closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras in such centres, she added, during its review of safety measures.

"This will be a short, sharp piece of work that will focus on the immediate actions we can take."

(Reporting by Christine Chen in Sydney, Editing by Clarence Fernandez)