Man, 26, charged with producing child abuse material during work at after school care

A 26-year-old man has been charged with allegedly using his position as an after-school care worker to produce child abuse material with 10 children aged six and under.

Australian Federal Police (AFP) officers allege the man produced child abuse material of 10 victims, the oldest being six years old.

It is further alleged his offending was linked to his employment with six different out-of-school hours (OOSH) care services in North Sydney and the CBD between April 2021 and May 2024.

He has been in custody on remand since October 2024, police said, but the details of the investigation are now able to be revealed after non-publication orders from a court were revoked.

This week urgent childcare reforms passed the lower house of parliament in Canberra.

The reform bill would give the Commonwealth government power to cut off funding to child care centres which do not meet the National Quality Standards for safety and quality.

Centres which put kids at risk are in danger of having their funding totally cut. Any illegal activity would also be grounds to lose public funding.

Government staff will also be given the power to do unannounced spot-checks.

The reforms were expedited in the wake of Victorian police laying more than 70 charges on Melbourne childcare worker Joshua Dale Brown. He faces allegations including sexual activity in the presence of a child under 16, sexual assault of a child under 16 and possessing child abuse material. He has yet to enter pleas to the charges.

Police pushed to have a suppression order on Mr Brown’s identity dropped, and health authorities have alerted the parents and carers of 2000 children to get their kids tested for sexually transmitted infections.

Mr Brown’s case was made public on July 1 after the suppression order was lifted, with police alleging Mr Brown abused eight children between the ages of five months and two years old.

Since then, police have established Mr Brown worked at 23 childcare centres across Melbourne between January 2017 and May 2025.

On July 15, Victoria Police said establishing Mr Brown’s work history had been “extremely complex” due to childcare providers not having centralised records.

In August, education ministers will meet to discuss a national register of early childhood educators. The state, territory and federal Attorney-Generals will also discuss working with children check reforms, at their meeting next month.

More to come.