An approved education and care provider, Play2Learn Pty Ltd, has been ordered to pay $44,000 by the State Administrative Tribunal (the Tribunal) after a 5-year-old was left unsupervised during after school collection, with the child subsequently leaving the school premises for almost an hour.
The child, who was not wearing a visual aid such as a high viz vest, was located by a member of the public, who was known to the child, at the corner of Paterson Street and Lockhart Street in Como, more than 500 metres away from the school.
To reach Lockhart Street, the child would have needed to navigate a roundabout with five exits, including Manning Road, which has additional safety risks such as a 60k/h speed limit and Transperth bus routes. These hazards had the potential to cause serious injury.
Staff at the approved service, Nature’s Little Learners, were unaware that the child was missing until a roll call was conducted and they could not be accounted for. The staff member who initially noticed the absence did not notify anyone that the child was missing, in accordance with the service’s policies and procedures, which caused confusion and delays in conducting the search.
During the ensuing search, the staff member left 14 children in the care of another staff member while she checked the school grounds.
A Department of Communities (Communities) investigation found that the provider had breached sections 165(1) and 167(1) of the Education and Care Services National Law (WA) by failing to adequately supervise a child in their care and failing to take reasonable precautions to protect child a from harm and hazards likely to cause injury. The Tribunal imposed penalties of $22,000 for breach of section 167(1) and $20,000 for breach of section 165(1) plus a $2,000 contribution towards legal costs.
More information on the Tribunal’s order is available on the eCourts website.
Quotes from Angelo Barbaro, Executive Director, Regulation and Quality, Department of Communities:
"The consequences of an unsupervised child walking more than 500 metres in an area with heavy traffic could have very easily been catastrophic. We know of tragic instances where children have been hit by vehicles in driveways on quiet suburban streets. The risk to the child in this situation was extremely high.
"It’s incredibly fortunate that in this case, a member of the public found the child and returned them to the service.
“Despite the Communities’ Education and Care Regulatory Unit (ECRU) providing ongoing information and support to the sector regarding the importance of active supervision, we continue to see cases where inadequate supervision has put children at risk.
"Services must ensure that their staff are suitably trained and supported to actively supervise all children in their care, no matter their needs or circumstances. This includes ensuring that all staff are well versed and follow the service’s policies and procedures.
"ECRU has a strong compliance framework and will use the compliance tools available under the national law where there are serious breaches of the legislation.
"Western Australia continues to lead the nation when it comes to taking compliance measures to ensure the health safety and wellbeing of the children.
"This outcome should remind providers of the importance of active and constant supervision.
"We urge approved providers to ensure constant, appropriate supervision practices are in place to keep children safe and to avoid compliance action."
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