Elite school’s OSHC cops hefty fine after 6yo kids wandered off

An elite Brisbane school Outside School Hours Care service has been fined after students were left unsupervised and two young children left the site, found kilometres away on a busy main road.

Two young students were found walking a busy main road more than two kilometres from the service. Picture: File photo/Thinkstock

An elite Brisbane school Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) service has been slapped with a $15,000 fine after staff at the service left students unsupervised and two young children left the premises for over an hour.

The service was fined in the Beenleigh Magistrates Court on Tuesday, after an incident in October 2022 when two six-year-old children in the care of the school’s OSHC left the service centre when they were unsupervised.

The children had walked 2.3km from the service and were found crossing a busy main road before members of the public reported the sighting to the service.

A statement from the department of education said the fine reflected the “seriousness of these offences”.

“These types of incidents could result in a child’s serious injury or death,” the statement said.

As the Early Childhood Regulatory Authority, the department of education prosecuted the service’s provider for failing to protect children from harm or hazard, inadequate supervision and children leaving the education and care service.

Magistrate Michael O’Driscoll acknowledged the children were unsupervised for over an hour, that the lack of supervision resulted in them leaving the service, that it was only fortunate that the children were not injured, and that – but for a member of the public – they could have continued to be undetected.

Principal Craig Merritt said the school deeply regretted that the incident occurred.

“Following the incident, we immediately alerted and fully co-operated with the regulator,” Mr Merritt said.

“In addition, the College commissioned an independent external review and has adopted all recommendations to make significant improvements to strengthen our supervision and risk management practices.”

Mr Merritt said the safety and wellbeing of students was the school’s “highest priority”.

“We remain committed to providing a safe and supportive environment for every child in our care. This is reflected in our Excellent Rating in our Outside School Hours Care service, which has been maintained since 2019.”

Mr O’Driscoll recognised the seriousness of the offences, however, considered the approved provider’s early guilty plea, lack of criminal history and co-operation with the Regulatory Authority.

The department of education’s statement said the Regulatory Authority would continue to work with the early childhood sector to promote supervision and safe environments for children, and had released an educational video specifically to raise service awareness of the risks associated with incidents of this kind.