Federal Housing Minister Clare O’Neil fought back tears as she spoke of her own “panicked” response to the alleged child sexual abuse that occurred at a daycare centre in Melbourne.

Childcare worker Joshua Brown, 26, was arrested over charges related to eight victims who attended a Point Cook childcare centre between April 2022 and January 2023.

Melbourne-based O’Neil, whose young children attend childcare centres in Victoria, said she was left “panicked” herself as she scanned list of childcare centres involved in the incidents.

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“Can I first say I am a parent of a child in childcare in Victoria, and this has been enormously upsetting news for all of us here,” she told Sunrise on Wednesday.

“We take so much care of our children and then to place your trust in an institution and have it betrayed in this way, it is just awful.”

The alleged victims are aged between five months and two-years-old, and the charges include sexual penetration of a child under 12, sexual assault of a child under 16, producing child abuse material and possessing child abuse material.

Due to the nature of the alleged offending, around 1200 children have been recommended for screening for infectious diseases.

“I just want to say to Victorian parents, we stand with you as you are trying to process this.”

As the news broke, O’Neil spoke of her own distress.

‘I was so panicked yesterday, looking on that list to see if any of my kids have been affected in any of these centres.

“(I know) thousands of parents around Victoria having to go through these discussions with their children, that we would never want a parent to have to talk to a child about, so I just say from a human perspective, this is absolutely awful.”

O’Neil explained there would be a “very fierce” and “appropriate discussion” about what needs to be done to ensure this never happens again.

A national watchdog for childcare centres has been suggested.

“You won’t find this being politicised,” O’Neil said.

“Every politician, every leader, every regulator in a country will be poring over this case to see how things could have been done differently.

“(Federal) minister Jason Clare has made a statement yesterday pointing some things that have been happening across the Commonwealth and the state.

“But please, for the public to understand that we are desperately concerned about what has happened here and will be looking at every step that we can to try to address the situation.”

Parents need reassurance

Senator Bridget McKenzie was equally upset.

“I was reading those stories, and I am just so thankful my kids are through childcare, and I can imagine what it would be like,” McKenzie said.

“Childhood needs to be innocent, needs to be enjoyed, and to have those conversations, I just can’t imagine it.

“It is horrific, these monsters need to be identified, they need to be locked up.

“Parents need to have confidence in our childcare system that their children will be safe from these types of predators.

“So, absolutely back the calls for a review of the safeguards, and I know that as Clare said, everyone on all sides of politics will want to be getting measures in place to absolutely get this sort of behaviour out of our childcare centres and society, more generally.”