An advocate for Australia’s male childcare employees says men in the industry are experiencing an “existential crisis” after horrific child abuse allegations sparked calls for them to be banned from working with kids.

The federal government has vowed to fast-track improvements to safety standards after it was reported Joshua Dale Brown, 26, was accused of more than 70 offences against eight children aged under two at a Melbourne childcare centre.

WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: The Opposition’s formal pledge to fast-track childcare safety measures.

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The state and federal opposition have vowed to support reforms that help protect children.

The charges against Brown have prompted calls for change, with Independent Collective of Survivors founder Louise Edmonds even suggesting men be banned from intimate childcare spaces including nappy changing rooms, sleep quarters and toilets.

“We actually need to do something a little bit more drastic than has been happening in the past,” she said.

A Change.org petition calling for male workers to be restricted from kindergartens and childcare centres altogether has garnered 811 signatures since it was launched last week.

Men make up about 3 per cent of an early childhood education workforce that is short 21,000 staff across Australia.

Ramesh Shrestha, co-founder and president of Thriving Educators Aspiring Male Professionals, an association that represents men in the childhood sector, said “male educators are going through an existential crisis” and nine in 10 felt unsupported by industry leaders or their employer.

“Hard-working, ethical male educators stand by stronger child safety standards and screening,” Shrestha told www.20304050.best.

“Depending on what qualifications (Cert III to a bachelors degree), it can take six months to four years (to be trained).

“Add decades of experience, passion and hard work, people fail to realise that this is more than a job for dedicated male educators.

“To get (public) support would mean that they are still seen, what they are doing matters, (that) there’s still hope for them in the sector, and they get to keep doing what they are passionate about — educating the future generations.”

Ban is ‘discrimination’

On Friday, private provider Inspire Early Learning Journey announced male educators would no longer change nappies or be assigned to toilet duties at its 16 Victorian centres.

Brown did not work at any of Inspire’s locations.

Shrestha, who also trains early childhood educators, said child safety was paramount but felt the ban was “discrimination”.

“The practical implications — I don’t think they have thought about that fully because that means extra workload on female staff,” he told www.20304050.best.

“When we do that, what are we teaching children? It’s going back to old gender norms.

“It’s not where we want to go. It’s important no roles are related to gender — anyone can be a doctor, a firefighter, a police officer.”

Child safety expert and former child abuse detective Kristi McVee said Inspire Early Learning Journey’s ban was a band-aid “to the actual problem of the lack of supervision in early childhood education”.

“They’re making it a gendered issue versus the fact that there are predators in both genders,” McVee told 7NEWS.

Shrestha said the stigma around males in the industry — including the “side-eyes from colleagues and parents” — had left many thinking about a career switch.

“The early childhood sector is one of inclusion and support and discrimination against children and educators is not in the best interest of children,” Australian Childcare Alliance (ACA) vice president Nesha Hutchinson told www.20304050.best.

Hutchinson said parents are incredibly upset by the allegations against Brown, “and they deserve to be”.

“As a sector, we need to be better,” she said.

The federal government does not believe a gender ban is the solution to better safety.

Hutchinson said the ACA was keen to see a nationalised working with vulnerable people check system because “no state talks with each other” at the moment, and a national employment register.

Speaking generally, federal Opposition Leader Sussan Ley said “there are loopholes in the system which allow predators to prey on children and it is just so horrific”.

Federal education minister Jason Clare has promised legislation that will cut subsidy funding to centres “that aren’t up to scratch”.

Operators that persistently fail to meet minimum standards would also be prevented from opening new centres.

The Victorian opposition has called for an independent regulator so “there is someone looking into this sector every single day”.

The Victorian government will consider making CCTV mandatory as part of a review.

Shrestha said he supported the use of cameras and restrictions on staff carrying mobile devices, said there was a need for better worker-children ratios, and called for tougher screening for employees.