Jade and Floyd Thompson call for pool fencing overhaul and childcare centre reform under ‘Ebony’s Law’ following their Humpty Doo toddler’s death
The heartbroken family who lost their toddler in a suspected accidental hanging have called for sweeping bans on a popular pool fence found in most Aussie backyards. Read their 12 point plan under ‘Ebony’s Law’ here.
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A heartbroken Northern Territory family who lost their baby girl in a suspected accidental hanging have called for sweeping bans on a popular pool fence found in most Aussie backyards.
Over five days, NT coroner Elisabeth Armitage heard 22-month-old Ebony Thompson likely hanged herself while trying to peek over a hip-high looped-top gate at the Humpty Doo Community and Child Care Centre on August 31, 2023.
Ms Armitage heard after being left alone in the garden for four minutes, the toddler was found ‘upright’ on the fence, unconscious, unresponsive and turning blue.
On Thursday, her grieving parents Jade and Floyd Thompson called on the coroner to recommend 12 changes to childcare safety and fencing regulations to ensure “no other family has to endure the pain, tragedy, and heartache that we have experienced”.
The Thompson’s barrister Luke Officer said Ebony’s death was “avoidable” and “preventable”, and urgent action was needed to ensure no other child was killed due to the ‘entrapment’ risk of the popular pool fence or by failed supervision policies.
During the inquest, Kidsafe Queensland president and Director of the Queensland Injury Surveillance Unit, Ruth Barker, said she was advocating for the looped-top fences to be replaced by “flat top” barriers in all childcare centres and pools.
Mr Officer said in light of the tragedy, Ebony’s family called on Attorney-General Marie-Clare Boothby to “urgently” implement legislation banning the “dangerous” fences across the Territory — not just in childcare centres.
Currently the only regulations around fencing in childcare centres is that children cannot squeeze through or under, or clamber over the barrier, and there is inconsistent regulation for pool fencing on rural and urban properties.
The Education Department has confirmed it ordered the Humpty Doo centre to remove all of the low looped style fences within two weeks, and was conducting an audit of all fencing in Territory childcare centres.
Quality, Standards and Regulation acting executive director Laura Lymer said a blind spot audit and the regulator’s annual inspections would mean by the end of 2025, the Education Department would have a “comprehensive understanding” of all potential fencing risks.
Counsel assisting the coroner Chrissy McConnell also recommended fencing regulation changes, however she said it should be pushed through the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority — a more timely process that would require the consensus of all states and territories.
Despite medical experts determining Ebony most likely died from an accidental hanging, the childcare centre’s barrister Adam Mason maintains her cause of death remains unknown.
Mr Officer said fencing was not the only major issue revealed in the inquest, with a “damning indictment” of the child care centre’s supervision policies and the regulator’s enforcement also under the spotlight.
“The truth is, that this childcare centre had a history of a litany of serious failures as to supervision,” Mr Officer said.
He called for the NT regulator, Quality Education and Care NT to establish a mandatory “three strikes” policy for supervision breaches, with centres to temporarily close until issues could be assessed and addressed.
Mr Officer said while this could be a “controversial” proposal for the sector, it was not a “novel” concept — with similar policies for WorkSafe ‘stop work’ orders — and would finally state when “enough is enough”.
In the past 13 years, not a single centre or individual has ever been fined for any breaches of standards by the QECNT, with only one outside school hours service temporarily closed until standards were improved.
However the Education Department confirmed it was currently investigating potential “offences” against the national childcare safety laws at the Humpty Doo centre.
Mr Officer called for closer collaboration between the regulator and centres to review supervision policies and for mandatory supervision audits every six months to be sent to QECNT.
Ebony’s family also called for changes in staffing ratios, mandated annual QECNT compliance checks, compulsory spot checks during transitions between rooms, and for the Department of Education to develop an app to standardise supervision practices.
Education Department barrister Tina Tomaszewski said the changes proposed under Ebony’s Law went beyond the powers of the Territory regulator, and would need to be changed by the national regulator ACECQA.
“In the absence of a fundamental change to the national quality framework, the proposed recommendations are not within the scope and cannot be regulated by QECNT,” Ms Tomaszewski said.
But she said the tragedy highlighted the “urgency” of national reform, and said the regulator was prepared to advocate for stronger regulations to gain national consensus.
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Originally published as Jade and Floyd Thompson call for pool fencing overhaul and childcare centre reform under ‘Ebony’s Law’ following their Humpty Doo toddler’s death
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