Morcombe Family Urges Albanese to Create National Childcare Perpetrator Registry

The parents of murdered teenager Daniel Morcombe have stepped up their push for a public childcare predator register after a string of alleged assaults.

Bruce and Denise Morcombe have co-signed a letter to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese urging the federal government to give parents clearer access to information about alleged child sex offenders.

The letter has also been signed by Opposition Leader Angus Taylor and the advocacy group Childcare Choice, with Mr Albanese’s office confirming it was received on Thursday.

Under the proposed national childcare registry, alleged abusers would be publicly named once charged, along with a list of childcare centres where they had worked.

‘Without a register in place, parents have no source of truth to seek information about perpetrators and where they worked,’ the letter states.

‘Relying on newspaper reporting, or on social media groups, should not be the only way that parents can access this information.

‘Should a parent identify that their child was a potential victim, you would agree it is in the best interest of the child to find out that information as soon as possible.’

Creating a national public register would require legislative changes backed by every state and territory parliament, as well as the federal government.

The Morcombes have been outspoken advocates for child safety since their son was abducted and murdered in 2003.

Daniel, who was days away from his 14th birthday, was abducted from a bus stop on the Sunshine Coast. 

His remains were found in 2011 and his killer, paedophile Brett Peter Cowan, was jailed for his murder in 2014.

Daniel’s parents believe a public registry is essential to protecting Australian children and identifying victims.

‘We have to get the government to stand behind us and make some of these changes,’ Ms Morcombe told Seven News.

Her husband added: ‘Given the circumstances over the last number of years there has been a dramatic drop in the public’s faith in the childcare system.

‘We see the registry as an opportunity to restore credibility to the sector – but most of all it is to protect the young ones.

‘You need (the federal government) to galvanise the state premiers to get them off their tail.’

The letter stated that families across Australia were facing ‘parental fear’ following a recent series of arrests. 

Sydney childcare worker Hamish Tait was arrested in June last year but was only recently named as an alleged child abuser.

He is facing 329 child abuse charges, allegedly committed over 16 years.

Police are still working to identify some of his alleged victims, releasing some images of children’s clothing tied to the alleged case just last month.

Another Sydney childcare worker, David James, was sentenced to 12 years behind bars in May for victimising nine boys, aged between five and nine, in child-abuse material. 

Joshua Brown, a former childcare worker in Melbourne, was arrested last year and pleaded not guilty to more than 150 charges.

He is accused of abusing 12 children, aged between five months and two years.  

Ashley Griffith was sentenced to life behind bars in 2024 after pleading guilty to more than 300 child abuse charges.

The court heard Griffith had raped or sexually assaulted 65 girls at multiple early learning centres in Queensland and NSW.

It is understood that the Albanese government is considering the proposal, a year after rolling out major childcare safety reforms.

‘We’ll have a look at all good suggestions, obviously, to keep our children safe,’ Health Minister Mark Butler said.