Funding pledged for key childcare reform recommended 10 years ago

Thursday, 13 November 2025 22:30

The federal government has put forward $37 million for childcare reforms aimed at stopping offenders slipping through the cracks between police checks in different states.

The "banned in one, banned in all" approach involving nationwide, ongoing checks of Working with Children Check (WWCC) holders will be ready to start rolling out from the end of this year.

The child sexual abuse royal commission recommended the measure in 2015 but the stalled push for reform gained extra urgency following a string of high-profile cases involving alleged abuse at childcare centres across the country.

Child playing at a childcare centre stock image

Attorney-General Michelle Rowland will tomorrow announce the five-year funding package towards the National Continuous Checking Capability to provide "near real-time monitoring of changes to criminal history information".

"Child safety is a top priority for the Albanese government. That's why we are progressing a coordinated and ambitious reform agenda to achieve meaningful consistency across jurisdictions for when a person is suitable to hold a WWCC and when they should be excluded," she said in a statement.

"This addresses existing gaps and inconsistencies and will improve protections for children and young people."

Rowland had previously knocked back the idea of one national database, instead leaving the states and territories to implement the collective change individually.

The government said five states and territories already recognised negative WWCC decisions from interstate and the other three were "on track" to introduce legislation this year.

The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission has been working on a pilot since March and the attorneys-general, who meet tomorrow, agreed to the changes in August.

All states and territories have agreed to rush through urgent reforms to the working with childrens check after allegations of child abuse at centres across the country.

"Currently, persons seeking to hold an entitlement, or position of trust, are subject to a point-in-time check of their criminal history through a Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check, often referred to as a police check, which is conducted through the ACIC's National Police Checking Service (NPCS)," ACIC executive director of business and partnerships Jeremy Johnson said, in March.

"The NCCC seeks to provide an additional layer to the process by providing an ongoing, continuous, near real-time monitoring of national changes to an entitlement holder's criminal history information.

"This means that if an entitlement holder is charged with a relevant offence in any state or territory, this information will be passed to the relevant screening unit for their assessment."

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