The devastated family of a woman allegedly murdered in regional Victoria have cried as her accused killer faced court.

Lachlan Young, 21, was brought into the dock at Ballarat Magistrates Court this morning flanked by two custody officers.

He was charged with murder on Monday after the body of his ex-girlfriend Hannah McGuire was found in a burnt out car at Scarsdale, about 25 kilometres south of Ballarat.

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Emergency services were called to a vehicle on fire in bushland on April 5, where they found the 23-year-old Clunes woman's remains.

McGuire, a teacher's aide, and Young had reportedly dated in the past. Police have alleged they knew each other.

In court today McGuire's heartbroken parents, Glenn and Debbie, sat alongside other loved ones to face their daughter's alleged killer.

Police prosecutor Steven Repac said members of McGuire's family were in court, and crying could be heard as Young's case was called.

He asked for 16 weeks to gather evidence before handing it over to the defence, however Young's lawyer opposed this time frame.

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"Defence have been given nothing by police," defence lawyer Crystal Caruana told the court.

"All the information we have is being received from the media at this stage and it would appear as though police have swooped very quickly in this matter."

"It would be assumed that there is enough evidence against Mr Young to charge him with murder."

She flagged Young could apply for bail in the Supreme Court, but needed this evidence to do so.

Acting Sergeant Repac said there were multiple crime scenes to be analysed along with CCTV, DNA evidence and forensic analysis.

This included deleted CCTV material, which police needed to recover and re-examine, he said.

"There is some complexity to it, obviously, given the nature of the investigation," Repac said.

Magistrate Guillaume Bailin agreed with the prosecutor and ordered police hand over the brief by July 29.

Caruana said it was Young's first time in custody and he was suffering from declining mental health. He will be seen by a nurse in custody for a medication and mental health review.

Young will return to court for a committal mention on September 19.

Outside court, McGuire's family members appeared emotional as they stood behind their lawyer Brooke Tamanika while she addressed the media.

"As you can imagine, this is a very devastating time for the family, for Hannah's loved ones and for our community as a whole," she said.

"The family have been assisting police, however I cannot comment on the status of the matter."

She asked the public to respect the privacy of McGuire's family and give them time to mourn.

Meantime, the town of Clunes is in mourning, and the family-run pub was temporarily closed this week.

In a post to social media, her parents wrote: "the National Hotel will reopen tomorrow", and paid tribute to their daughter.

"You weren't just a star to us. You were our whole damn sky. Miss you princess."

The 23-year-old is the third woman to be allegedly murdered by a man in Ballarat this year sparking calls for more awareness around family violence.

"It's sad what happened, especially in a small town where everyone is pretty close and tight," one local, Heath, said.

"It is not something that we want to be known for and we will work collaboratively tirelessly to do whatever we can," Ballarat Mayor Des Hudson said.

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A mother says she can finally grieve the death of her son after prosecutors dropped charges against the man accused of killing the toddler.

Savannah-Rose Wilson's then partner, Aaron Harley James, was in custody for more than two years accused of killing his 16-month-old stepson Jaylen Priest.

James, now 35, was committed to stand trial charged with the murder of Jaylen, who died in hospital in January 2022.

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James pleaded not guilty to manslaughter when prosecutors presented a new indictment to the Brisbane Supreme Court on Tuesday.

After an adjournment, the Crown said it would not proceed with charges against James.

Wilson, who has her son's name tattooed on her shoulder, said she had not been able to grieve her "beautiful" son.

"I'm just happy to see the truth prevails today. My son can rest finally," she told reporters outside court.

"I've lost family, I've lost friends because we've been painted as murderers and we loved our son."

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Evidence suggested Jaylen's death was an awful tragedy, Justice Peter Callaghan told jurors who were discharged without proceedings getting under way.

"It is at least the case that this tragedy will not now be compounded by the conviction of an innocent man."

Before the jury was empanelled, Justice Callaghan questioned Crown prosecutor David Nardone about a police interview in which a child was pressed for information before giving a second statement.

Justice Callaghan questioned whether this had been reported to the police commissioner, Crime and Corruption Commission, Family and Child Commission or Human Rights Commission or any action taken against the officer, with Nardone saying not as far as he was aware.

"For the last two years this police officer has continued thinking it's perfectly OK to interview a 14-year-old like this," Justice Callaghan said.

There was no evidence of violence or mistreatment by James against the child, Justice Callaghan said after discharging the jury in response to the Crown dropping charges.

"The evidence that you would have heard would have established that there was a loving relationship between James and Jaylen."

There was no build up to Jaylen suffering the injuries, with James having arrived home from work a few minutes before.

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It was a wet day, there was water on a hard floor and the boy slipped while running, the evidence of those living in the house suggested.

He hit his head, suffering a fractured skull and brain bleed.

James attended to the boy, with an ambulance being called immediately.

Justice Callaghan said photos showed the injury to the boy's skull was consistent with a particularly shaped table leg.

Paramedics were called to a house at Burpengary, north of Brisbane, on December 30, 2021 in relation to the welfare of the boy, police said earlier.

Jaylen was taken to hospital in a critical condition and died about a week later.

Serial sex pests and other serious criminal offenders may be barred from the National Disability Insurance Scheme after leaving jail, in a new flashpoint between the Commonwealth and States over disability funding.

Minister for the NDIS Bill Shorten has accused the states and territories of using the NDIS as a "dumping ground" after it was revealed that sexual abusers, rapists and paedophiles were receiving significant support under the NDIS after release.

In some cases, NDIS support is worth more than $1 million a year.

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Wayne Wilmot, one of Australia's worst serial sex offenders, will be the beneficiary of a significant NDIS package when he is released from prison, including 24 hours of support services a week as well as access to behaviour and health professionals.

"I don't want him (Wilmot) on the NDIS," Shorten told 9News in an exclusive interview.

"You'll have to ask the state authorities why they're releasing him.

"The NDIS was not created to be a dumping ground for the state correctional system for people they don't know how to cope with in society."

Wilmot was involved in the horrific murder, rape and kidnapping of Janine Balding in 1988.

He was sentenced to seven years' jail for being an accessory to her murder and when he was released in 1996 he attacked four more women.

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He was again sent to prison but is set to be released after his detention was extended.

Shorten told 9News he would be asking an expert panel of former top police officers to review the safety of NDIS workers tasked with providing support services to serious criminal offenders.

"I want their advice before we admit people with serious criminal history anywhere near our NDIS," he said.

"The NDIS is for people with profound and severe impairment who need assistance with the core function of living.

"We are not currently able to look at a person's criminal history.

"That's got to change. I want to know who's asking to be on the scheme, (and) if the workforce, who we send to care for them are safe.

"Now the vast bulk of people on the scheme – the vast, vast bulk – are completely legitimate and eligible but the states can't just use the NDIS to provide round-the-clock protection for the community from a few very bad people."

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David Balding, the brother of Janine Balding, said police were anxious about Wilmot's looming release.

"They are very concerned that he will recommend once he is released," Balding told 9News.

"It's not a matter of if, it's a matter of when.

"Getting released, angers me, then to find out that he's getting support through a scheme that should be helping people that really need it and struggling to get it is pretty appalling."

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He will appear in Papakura District Court facing nine charges of shoplifting.

A doctor who wrongly diagnosed a 19-month-old with gastro, days before he died of meningitis, has said the misjudgement was a "major error".

Paul Bumford told an inquest he was working his first shift at Wangaratta Hospital in north-east Victoria when an unwell Noah Souvatzis arrived on December 29, 2021.

The toddler had been holidaying with his parents, Ben and Steph, in nearby Myrtleford, when he became unwell, vomiting, crying for hours and had a high fever.

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He was earlier brought to an urgent care centre in the town after becoming severely lethargic and unable to keep fluids down.

A nurse at the Alpine Health facility noted symptoms of lethargy and being unable to keep fluids down before advising Noah be taken to hospital.

Dr Bumford, who was employed on a locum basis at hospitals across the state, clocked in more than an hour after Noah was admitted to the emergency department.

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The toddler was discharged by Dr Bumford three hours after his admission, before he was brought back to the hospital by his parents hours later.

Noah was later flown to the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne, where he died from meningitis on December 31.

Dr Bumford "wholeheartedly accepted" meningitis and sepsis "should have been on my list, that was a huge error on my part".

He also said not correctly picking up the symptoms was "in hindsight is terrible from me but that's my honest answer".

"Obviously there have been a lot of failings on my part," he said.

"I put far too much weight on these observations when I should have looked at the bigger picture."

Dr Bumford said Noah's treatment and misdiagnosis constantly played on his mind.

"I've thought about (what I could have done differently) probably every day since it's happened," he said.

"A big problem for (the parents) was me not listening to them.

"I've thought about that a lot."

Dr Bumford said he received no onboarding from the hospital except for providing immunisation history.

"Obviously everyone looked very busy. I had difficulty finding someone to direct me into the actual department," he said.

"It seemed fairly chaotic and busy to me, but I didn't really have any reference point (for what the hospital was usually like)."

Outside the Coroner's Court on Monday, Noah's parents remembered their son as a beautiful, gentle boy who loved cuddles and making others laugh and smile.

"We want to prevent what happened to Noah from happening to other Australian kids," Souvatzis told reporters.

"We know our little boy would still be here today if all the medical services provided the expected level of care."

A Northeast Health Wangaratta representative on Monday conceded the care provided to Noah was not appropriate during his first presentation and apologised to his family.

The crash involved a single vehicle.

Jeannine Ball and her mother-in-law Lynda Ball died in the Taupō crash earlier this year.