Weston Creek Children's Centre Director Accused of Defrauding Business has Bail Refused

Further to yesterday's post, ABC Online has published further details on the matter.

Former Cairns Childcare Director Jailed for Six Years over Child's Death on Minibus

 Further to previous posts, ABC Online published the outcome of the case.

Canberra Woman Charged with 23 Counts of Child Care Fraud

Canberra Weekly reported on this story.

NQF Review - Consultation Regulation Impact Statement Released

The NQF Review has released a regulatory impact statement for consultation. Their website includes a number of videos explaining its provisions. In addition, information sessions are being held across the country from next month. Feedback is sort via written submission or online survey (which is yet to be uploaded). This public consultation phase will be carried out from 1 March to 30 April 2021. Input will inform the Decision Regulation Impact Statement. More details can be obtained from the NQF Review 2019 website.

Former Cairns Childcare Director Pleads Guilty to Manslaughter of Child Left on Bus

 ABC Online carried a report on the latest developments in this tragic case.

Tasmanian Childcare Service Worker Charged with Producing Child Exploitation Material

 ABC Online carried a report on this matter.

ACT Government Responds to High Rate of Serious Incidents in Childcare Services

In a recent blog post on this year's Report on Government Services, I mentioned that the ACT had the highest number, of all jurisdictions, of serious incidents reported per 100 services (for 2019-20). The RiotACT! website interviewed the ACT Education Minister on this issue who said "One of the things we have in the ACT within our early childhood sector is a really good culture of reporting, and that is important so we can address some of the issues that might arise in our early childhood education centres,”. I am not sure whether that means ACT services are over reporting or there is under reporting in other jurisdictions. 

Prosecutions by NSW Regulatory Authority

The NSW Regulatory Authority under the National Law has recently published details of prosecutions it has undertaken since late 2019. I am not sure why this information has not been published earlier but here is a summary:

Ru Duff (Mission Australia Family Day Care South West Sydney)

The educator was convicted for breach of s.165(3), National Law, when she left a 17 month old child asleep alone in the residence to collect another child from the local school. She was convicted at Liverpool Local Court and sentenced to a Conditional Release Order for a period of 6 months.

Emily Simoni  (Upper Hunter Family Day Care)

The educator was convicted for breach of s.165(3), National Law, when four children were left in the care of her partner, who was not a family day care educator assistant. Convicted at Musswellbrook Local Court and fined a total of $2,500.

Sonia Daoud (Bankstown Family Day Care)

In this matter, three children were left in the care of the educator's daughter, who was not a family day care educator assistant. The daughter went to the bathroom and, when she returned, she noticed that the child aged 22 months was missing and that the front door was open. The educator was prosecuted for breach of sections 165(3) and 167(3) and convicted at Bankstown Local Court and fined a total of $750.

Whatcanwedo.com Pty Ltd atf WCWD Discretionary Trust

In this case, a 7 year old child with a number of medical conditions left the service premises (Our Place Educational Centre) without the knowledge of staff. The child walked approximately one kilometre to a supermarket where staff at the store contacted the police. Police officers returned the child to the service. Prior to the police making contact with the service, the staff were unaware of the child’s absence. The approved provider was prosecuted for breach of sections 165(1), 167(1), and s.170(1) and convicted at Queanbeyan Local Court and fined a total of $9,300. In addition, the nominated supervisor, Stephen Whisker, was fined a total of $900.

G8 Education Limited

In this case a 5 year old was left unattended, asleep on a bus that took the child to the service (Headstart Early Learning Centre Norwest). The approved provider was prosecuted for breach of sections 165(1) and 170(1) and convicted at Parramatta Local Court and fined a total of $2,500.

Camp Australia Pty Ltd

Following a complaint, an examination of attendance records showed that in a period of three months the service (Camp Australia – Minchinbury Public School OSHC) had exceeded the maximum number of children for which it was approved to provide education and care (30). On those occasions, there were between 31 and 50 children in care at any one time. The approved provided was convicted for breaching section 51(8) at Mount Druitt Local Court and fined a total of $5,000.

Only About Children Pty Ltd

In this case a child 2 years and 4 months old left the service (Only About Children Rose Bay 1) without the knowledge of staff and was found by a member of the public. The approved provider was convicted at Burwood Local Court and fined a total of $14,000 for breach of section 165(1).

Guardian Corporate Early Learning Centres Pty Ltd

In this matter, an 18 month old child gained access to the staff room at the service (Guardian Early Learning – Arthur Street), unnoticed by staff. The child was located by a staff member who saw the child through a glass panel on the door to the staff room. The child was alone, and was holding a bottle of cleaning product, which she had spilt on herself. Te approved provider was convicted at Sydney Downing Centre Local Court and fined a total of $2,500 for breach of section 165(1). The nominated supervisor, Cathy Anderson, was also fined a total of $750.

Miranda McGrath (Active OOSH Cameron Park)

In this matter, the nominated supervisor was prosecuted for breach of section 167(2) where she allowed children to remove their hats and shirts while participating in activities. The educator applied sunscreen to the child, but observed her to have removed the sunscreen on a number of occasions. The child was sunburnt at the end of the day, and required medical treatment to address superficial burns. She was sentenced at Toronto Local Court and following a plea of guilty, the matter was dismissed without recording a conviction and without further penalty.

Helen Rateau (Kidstart Family Day Care)

The educator placed a six month old child in a bassinet to sleep. At about 12:50pm, the child was crying. Ms Rateau entered the room to check on the child and then left the room. The child stopped crying a short time later. Upon checking the child at about 1:20pm, the educator found the child face down in the bassinet and not breathing. She called an ambulance and commenced CPR, but the child was unable to be revived. It was allegeded that she failed to:

• adequately supervise the child in her care by failing to closely monitor the sleeping child; failing to check/inspect the sleeping child at regular intervals; and failing to ensure that the child was within sight to monitor the child’s breathing and skin colour (s.165(3)).
  
• ensure that she took every reasonable precaution to protect a child from harm and from hazard likely to cause injury in that the child was placed in an unsuitable bassinet instead of a cot; the bassinet contained a loose sheet and pillow; the child’s bib was not removed; and Ms Rateau failed to follow best practice guidelines in respect to sleeping children (s.167(3).
• implement adequate health and hygiene practices to minimise risks by not having changed the child’s nappy between 8:30am and 1:20pm (regulation 77(3)).
  

The educator was convicted at Waverley Local Court and fined a total of $7500. She was also placed on a Conditional Release Order for a period of 18 months.

Atlantis Air Pty Ltd atf J&L Burnett Family Trust

In this case two children at the service (Natural Elements Early Learning Centre - Potsville) were taken outside by educators, both children became sunburnt, with a nine month old requiring medical treatment for superficial sunburn. The approved provider was prosecuted for breach of section 167(1) and was convicted at Tweed Heads Local Court and fined a total of $2,800.

 

 

 

Report on Government Services 2021 - Early Childhood Education & Care

Part B of the Report on Government Services 2021 (ROGS report) was published today. Section 3 deals with early childhood education and care. The ROGS report is an annual report produced by the Productivity Commission comparing the performance of State and Territory governments in the delivery of a wide range of services.

In relation to childcare, some interesting information is revealed in the report in relation to compliance. It should be noted that some of the reported data may have been affected by COVID restrictions.

 

Confirmed Breaches

The jurisdictions with the highest number of confirmed breaches of the NQF per 100 services (in 2019-20) were: NSW (245.2), Northern Territory (195.5), and Victoria (144.5). The lowest was South Australia (33.8) The report indicates these figures are not comparable between jurisdictions due to differences in administrative and reporting procedures.

Nationally, there were 156.1  confirmed breaches per 100 services (up from last year's 132.4). The highest rates were for family day care (690.5  breaches per 100 services, up significantly from 292.3 last year) and centre based day care (182.3 breaches per 100 services, up from 158.8 last year).

The report did not publish data on compliance action taken by Regulatory Authorities this year "due to data quality concerns arising from a recent change to the NQA ITS".

Serious Incidents

The jurisdictions with the highest number of serious incidents reported (as defined in regulation 12 of the National Regulations) per 100 services (in 2019-20) were: ACT (176.5); South Australia (112) and Tasmania (111.5)  The lowest was Victoria (86.6).

Nationally, the total number of serious incidents grew again. There were 103.3 serious incidents per 100 NQF services with a total of 16,632 serious incidents having occurred. 13,077 of these incidents related to child injury, trauma or illness. These figures up up again from last year when the figures were 101.7 serious incidents per 100 NQF service and 16,185 serious incidents.