An investigation by the Department of Communities’ Education and Care Regulation Unit (ECRU) established that a four-year-old boy left the service unsupervised through a gate in the outdoor yard of the service. A nearby resident found the child outside of the service and left him with her husband while she approached educators who were looking for the child. He was returned to the service a short time later. ECRU referred the matter to the SAT.
The SAT found that on 26 October 2021, service provider Bunbury Cathedral Grammar School Inc. trading as Bunbury Cathedral Grammar School 3-Year-Old Kindy, breached section 165(1) of the Education and Care Service National Law (WA) Act for inadequate supervision of a child and imposed a penalty of $14,000 and $1,000 in legal costs.
Quotes from Phil Payne, Executive Director Regulation and Quality, Department of Communities:
“The Department of Communities’ Education and Care Regulatory Unit continues to warn Providers about the importance of supervision”.
“Being approved to operate a childcare service in Western Australia carries with it significant responsibilities and obligations to ensure the safety and wellbeing of children enrolled at the childcare service.
“Services should continually review perimeter boundaries to eliminate single point of failure that could result in direct open access.
“Communities will continue to proactively target Providers’ supervision policies and procedures to ensure they are robust and that adequate checks are undertaken, especially during transition times, to ensure all children are accounted for.”
Service providers can contact ECRU on 6277 3889, Free call 1800 199 383 or by email at ECRU@communities.wa.gov.au.
Media contact: Chris Abbott – 0466 651 540.
