On 20 August 2025, the Victorian Government announced that it would take immediate action to strengthen Victorian child safety and early childhood education and care (ECEC) regulations, including proposing significant reforms to the Working with Children Check (WWCC) scheme and other child-safety regulations (the Child Safety Overhaul).
Background
The Child Safety Overhaul follows the publication of the findings and recommendations of the Rapid Child Safety Review (the Review), released on 15 August 2025. The Review identified immediate actions available to close gaps in the ECEC system compromising the safety of children.
Changes to Working with Children Checks
On 28 August 2025, the Worker Screening Act 2020 (WS Act) was amended to implement some of the proposed reforms with further changes expected in the coming months. The amendments include:
- Treating WWCC applicants who are excluded from child-related work outside of Victoria as category A applicants.
- Requirements that the Secretary immediately suspend WWCCs under re-assessment for revocation because the WWCC holder is charged, convicted, or found guilty of a relevant offence, or disciplinary or regulatory finding to the person’s eligibility to hold a WWCC.
- Empowering the Secretary to cancel a WWCC if a person gives false or misleading information in their WWCC application or reassessment.
- In respect of decisions to exclude a person from child-related work, limiting the jurisdiction of the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal to only issues of mistaken identity.
- Extending the limitation period for commencing criminal proceedings for providing false or misleading information in a WWCC application from 12 months to 66 months.
The amendments to the WS Act also introduce new criminal offences related to WWCCs. Those new offences include:
- A person or agency will commit an offence if they engage a worker in child-related work who the person or agency ought to have known, or knew, that the worker was under an interim exclusion order.
- A person will commit an offence if they engage in child-related work while under an interim exclusion order.
- It will be an offence to apply for a WWCC if a person is already excluded from working with children in other States.
Expanded regulatory powers of the Social Services Regulator
Before the end of 2025, the Victorian Government will enact amending legislation to expand the regulatory scope and powers of the Victorian Social Services Regulator (SSR). The reforms will reassign the following regulatory schemes into the jurisdiction of the SSR:
The SSR will have increased powers to:
- consider unsubstantiated allegations when deciding whether to grant, suspend, or cancel a WWCC;
- compel ECEC organisations to verify the WWCC clearance of their workers;
Under these amendments, eligibility to apply for a WWCC will include a mandatory requirement that the applicant complete child-safety training and testing. Additionally, the amendments to the statutory process for review of a WWCC under the WS Act will require reviews to be undertaken by experts in child-safety risks.
New ECEC Regulator
Before the end of 2025, the Victorian Government will establish a new early childhood services regulatory authority, independent from the current regulator, the Department of Education. The new authority will have broader regulatory powers, including responsibility for the Early Childhood Workforce Register, and increased resourcing, including:
-
substantially greater number of Authorised Officers;
- an increase in frequency of compliance visits and quality assessments; and
- funding to deliver specialised enforcement, monitoring, and other regulatory services.
How to prepare for these changes
Further details about the regulatory powers and functions of the new ECEC regulator and the SSR are expected to be announced shortly.
ECEC organisations should be prepared to effect compliance with the new requirements, especially in respect of the WWCC clearance of its employees and volunteers. ECEC organisations in states other than Victoria can also anticipate incoming changes as the child-safety regulatory framework undergoes reshaping at a national level.
How we can help
Please contact a member of our Public Law and Regulatory Compliance team for advice regarding the upcoming reforms.
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