Victoria Hires Top Cop to Lead New Childcare Watchdog

After a career fighting to protect the most vulnerable, former deputy police commissioner Wendy Steendam is taking on her next mission: making sure every child in Victoria's childcare system is safe.

Steendam will lead the newly created Victorian Early Childhood Regulatory Authority starting July 1. The appointment comes after a review exposed serious gaps in how the state monitored childcare centers and handled misconduct allegations.

The veteran officer spent four decades with Victoria Police, including years working on child sex abuse investigations. She personally briefed Victorians on the distressing allegations that sparked the system overhaul last year.

"My whole intent is to make the system better," Steendam told ABC News. "You get to make a difference, you get to influence the system, and you get to help our community make sure that when they place their child in care that they're actually safe."

The new authority represents a complete reset for childcare oversight in Victoria. VECRA is hiring more investigators and has already increased the number of childcare center inspections across the state.

When asked directly if children in Victorian childcare are safe, Steendam didn't hesitate. "Absolutely," she said. "My role as a regulator is to ensure that parents can feel confident that what we're doing is actually ensuring that their child is safe."

Why This Inspires

Sometimes the best person for a job is someone who's already spent a lifetime preparing for it. Steendam's decades of experience protecting children means she knows exactly what can go wrong and how to prevent it. Her appointment shows Victoria is serious about getting childcare regulation right, not just creating another bureaucracy.

The reform tackles real problems identified in last year's review, including failures that allowed workers with misconduct allegations to keep their clearances. That's changing under the new system.

Steendam says she manages the difficult nature of her work by focusing forward. "Take what you can and make a difference and actually prevent things from occurring again," she explained.

For thousands of Victorian parents dropping their children at daycare each morning, that's exactly the kind of leadership they need watching over the system.