Hundreds of shocking incidents uncovered at SA childcare, OSHC and preschool sites

The sector watchdog has uncovered hundreds of worrying incidents at childcare centres across SA.

Children going missing, locked outside or seriously injured are among hundreds of incidents reported at childcare centres across South Australia.

New figures also show a sharp rise in centre operators or staff breaching rules meant to keep children safe, following a compliance crackdown by the sector watchdog.

Last financial year there were 347 reports of children missing, taken from or locked in or out of childcare, after school care or preschool centres.

G8 Education. Childcare generic. Photo: iStock

That is up from 310 in 2021-22.

Another 1542 injuries, illnesses or traumas sustained by children were reported, up from 1438.

Ambulances or police were called in 200 times, down slightly from 209.

Centres must report incidents where a child requires medical attention, even if the inury was caused by something staff could not prevent, such as a child scratching their eye.

Operators are not required to tell parents about incidents, or notices issued by safety inspectors, only changes imposed on their conditions of operation.

The majority of incidents occurred in childcare centres, which are largely privately owned.

Almost 30 per cent occurred in out of school hours care (OSHC) services and about 15 per cent at preschools.

Analysis published this week by the federal government’s Productivity Commission shows SA has the third-highest rate of serious incidents around the nation, behind the ACT and Tasmania.

There was also a surge in breaches of rules or policies at SA childcare centres, OSHC services and preschools - from 493 in 2021-22 to 1272 last financial year.

The sector watchdog, the Education Standards Board (ESB) of SA, is charged with monitoring compliance.

ESB chief executive Kerry Leaver said officers had “increased compliance monitoring activities by visiting more sites more regularly”, and reiterated the reporting requirements to staff in OSHC centres.

About 200 OSHC educators had received new training in supervision, serious incident reporting and risk management, she added.

“As such, we would expect the number of self-reports to increase,” Ms Leaver said.

In August last year, the state government committed an extra $7m to the ESB to “boost capacity”, following recommendations of a royal commission into the state’s early childhood education and care system.

Education Minister Blair Boyer said that funding went towards education and “allowed for a crackdown into those services that aren’t performing as well to ensure safety for all of our students”.

It should also enable the ESB to assess, and rate, every early childhood education and care service against national standards at least every three years.

Due to a lack of resources, many centres have not been assessed for 10 years.

In December, a panel of experts - led by former senior police officer Trevor Lovegrove - was appointed to “improve the functioning” of the ESB, also following royal commission recommendations.