Recent WASAT Decisions

Recently, the West Australian State Administrative Tribunal (WASAT) made a number of consent orders in relation to matters brought before the tribunal by the WA Regulator (Department of Communities) for contraventions of the National Law:

In Chief Executive Officer of the Department of Communities and Helping Hands Network Pty Ltd, the approved provider breached section 165, National Law. The breach involved leaving a 51/2 year old child on a bus, used for transporting children to the service, for a period of 10-15 minutes. The child was found by a parent locked in the bus. The approved provider was fined $15,000 plus $2,000 costs.

In Chief Executive Officer of the Department of Communities and Kids Active Pty Ltd, the approved provider contravened sections 165 and 174(2)(a), National Law. This case involved a child aged 41/2 found by a member of the public standing next to a pond located outside the front of the service (Kid's Active Canning Vale). The approved provider also failed to notify the Department of this serious incident within 24 hours as required by the National Law. The approved provider was fined $12,500 and had to pay $2,000 towards the Department's legal costs.

 

In Chief Executive Officer of the Department of Communities and Goodstart Early Learning Ltd, the approved provider breached section 165, National Law. In this case the child left the service (Goodstart Early Learning East Bunbury) unnoticed and unsupervised and walked to her house 150m away where her mother was on the front lawn. The parent took the child back to the service. Educators had not noticed the child's absence until then (a period of about 20 minutes). The approved provider was fined $10,000 and had to pay $2,000 towards the Department's legal costs.

In Western Australia such matters as this are generally heard as disciplinary matters under the National Law (WA), see the article by David Oliver in The Sector that explains the process in detail.

Some of these cases were also reported on by The West Australian.