Childcare centres failing basic standards, with some claiming false taxpayer subsidies
DOZENS of childcare facilities are failing basic learning standards and have been penalised for rorting taxpayer funds in just a three-month period.
NSW
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DOZENS of childcare facilities are failing basic learning standards and have been penalised for rorting taxpayer funds in just a three-month period.
A string of Western Sydney childcare centres are the latest to be hit by random audits which have found many facilities have enrolled too many students or are claiming taxpayer subsidies for school-age students and even owners’ family members.
The Al Amaan Family Day Care in Chullora, Baiden Family Day Care in Auburn and Care 4 Kids Family Day Care in Fairfield are on a list of 10 centres in NSW identified by Education Department investigators for a series of issues between July and September last year and which have subsequently had their federal subsidies cancelled.
They were found to have recklessly provided false statements or documents, enrolling too many students, and a number of other breaches of the standards.
The federal government, which will today release a name-and-shame list of childcare operators struck off from receiving Commonwealth funding, subsidises childcare places by around $6 per student each hour.
“This register should serve as a warning to providers that if you’re non-compliant and do the wrong thing you will be hung out to dry,” Education Minister Simon Birmingham said.
The major crackdown — with 38 centres facing action in those three months compared to 141 for the entire 12 months prior — comes after concerns were raised about the potential misuse of hundreds of thousands of dollars by childcare centre operators.
The most alarming reports included allegations of fraud levelled at two Sydney men who counter-terrorism police claimed were scamming the childcare scheme through a Lakemba daycare centre.
That centre, Play School Family Day Care, had its funding cancelled after the company which owns it reportedly collected $27 million in taxpayer funds since 2012 though childcare subsidies.
Parents can view the register at: www.education.gov.au/child-care-enforcement-action-register