Camp Australia’s penalties and fines as new CEO came from shut down training program

Australia’s largest after school care provider has paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines for breaching childcare rules as more details emerge about its new boss. SEE IF YOUR CHILD IS AFFECTED + THE FULL LIST OF PENALTIES

The man at the head of an after-school care service provider fined for breaching quality standards had previously headed a vocational training program shut down by the Federal Government.

Warren Jacobsen is the new CEO of Camp Australia which operates 665 after school care services that care for over 50,000 children.

News Corp revealed earlier this month that one in four of Camp Australia’s services don’t meet government quality standards and today we can reveal how the company has been subject to hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines for rule breaches.

Mr Jacobsen – who was appointed CEO of Camp Australia just months ago – worked for Study Group Australia which had its vocational education training arm deregistered by the government in January.

Until the end of 2016, Mr Jacobson was Managing Director of the entire Study Group Australia business in Australia and New Zealand which provided bridging courses for international students to study at Australian universities.

Is your child’s after school care centre safe? Scroll to check below.

Warren Jacobson, Camp Australia’s new CEO.

This business also provided private higher education through Endeavour College and Australian College of Physical Education, and vocational education.

At the end of 2016, he moved out of the Managing Director role into a corporate development role focused on nurturing existing university partnerships and new partnership development.

From 2009 to 2018, Study Group Australia received $464 million from the federal government’s Vocational Education and training FEE-HELP scheme funded by Australian taxpayers.

A damning Australian National Audit Office report into the FEE-VET HELP (VFH) scheme in December 2016 forecast over $2 billion of the taxpayer funded loans from around Australia might never be repaid because recipients would never earn enough money to reach the repayment threshold.

The loan scheme was reformed in 2017.

In January 2018, the Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) moved to deregister Study Group Australia’s vocational courses a process which took a year to finalise.

The regulator found the vocational courses had a low qualification completion rate, a failure to provide students with accurate information about a course and its fees, and it had insufficient trainers and assessors to deliver the qualifications to the number of students enrolled.

There are major concerns about the quality of after school care. Picture: iStock

The Tertiary Education Quality Standards Agency (TEQA) confirmed it is also undertaking a compliance assessment of Study Group Australia’s accreditation as a higher education provider.

Study Group Australia managing director Alex Chevrolle told News Corp it took action in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal to appeal ASQA’s January 2018 decision to deregister the vocational training arm of its business.

“We’d already made the decision to exit the vocational education training sector and were not taking new students,” he said.

“All the students were taught out by October 2018 so the company withdrew its AAT appeal and the company was deregistered in January.

“We vigorously deny all the claims the regulator made.”

He said a second investigation by TEQSA into the tertiary business being run by Study Group Australia was still under way.

Mr Chevrolle took over as managing director of Study Group Australia in July and says he replaced Mr Jacobsen who left the business to become the CEO of Camp Australia.

Camp Australia is owned by the United States-based private equity firm Bain Capital and as revealed last week, is battling it’s own problems with quality ratings.

Camp Australia has paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines for rule breaches. Picture supplied

State regulatory authorities have instigated numerous compliance actions and imposed hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines on Camp Australia which has been caught keeping two sets of books, enrolling more children than it was approved for and having too few staff.

Camp Australia said over the past 24 months it has invested millions of dollars to improve the quality and consistency of services.

Camp Australia said in a statement. “Warren Jacobson was recently appointed CEO of Camp Australia following a comprehensive and lengthy recruitment process which was supported by independent expert search firms.

“Under Mr Jacobson’s leadership, Camp Australia services have already seen improvements in its quality ratings, as assessed by the regulator, over the last 3 months,” he said.

SEE IF YOUR CHILD’S AFTER SCHOOL CARE IS FAILING STANDARDS HERE

The Childcare quality regulator the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority said when states and territories review applications for approving childcare providers it considers whether the applicant is a fit and proper person, the applicant’s history of compliance or criminal history.

The guide to the national childcare quality framework says “the person’s history of compliance with any current or former education and care services law, children’s services law or education law’ must also be considered.”

Opposition childcare spokeswoman Amanda Rischworth said “Safety and quality should be absolutely paramount when it comes to after school care”.

“The fact that Camp Australia has failed to meet the quality standards is deeply concerning and should be of great concern to families,” she said.

“It is incumbent on whoever is in charge of Camp Australia going forward to ensure they meet all the quality and safety standards,” she said.

A spokesman for the Cpnnonwealth Education department said “Child care providers are required under state and territory and Commonwealth legislation to ensure that key personnel are fit and proper providers to get and maintain approval to administer the Child Care Subsidy”.

MORE NEWS

How to save $1000 on your health insurance

My Health Record agency in workplace dispute

The photo that will enrage Aussie migraine sufferers

PENALTIES IMPOSED ON CAMP AUSTRALIA

*In April 2016, Camp Australia was fined $30,000 in Western Australia after a seven-year-old child with Down syndrome wandered away from an out-of-school-hours care centre at Cloverdale Primary School without anyone noticing.

*In December 2016 Camp Australia was banned from tendering for new contracts or renewing existing contracts at government schools in New South Wales, for failing to meet quality requirements. But a year later this was scrapped and there is no longer any requirement for operators to have at least 50 per cent of their services meeting standards.

* In March 2017 in Western Australia Camp Australia fined $7000 after a 5-year-old left its Coogee Primary School before school care service unsupervised for 10 minutes

* In August 2017 in Western Australia Camp Australia was fined $8500 by the State Administrative Appeals Tribunal after a 6-year-old child left the service unnoticed by staff for 20 minutes at Jandakot Primary School.

*In September 2017 in Victoria Camp Australia’s Heathmont East Primary School OSHC had conditions imposed for serious failures in relation to educational programs provided to children and interactions with children.

*In July 2017 in Victoria Camp Australia’s Footscray Primary School OSHC was issued with a compliance notice for failing to protect children from harm and hazards and for failing to keep proper enrolment and other documents

*In May 2017 in Victoria Camp Australia’s Wattle Park Primary School OSHC was issued with a compliance notice due to serious nature of noncompliances in relation to adequate supervision of children and the protection of children from harm and hazards.

*In May 2017 in Victoria all Camp Australia services were issued with compliance notices for serious noncompliances in relation to notifying the Regulatory Authority of any change relevant to whether the approved provider is fit and proper to be involved in the provision of education and care service

A screen shot of Camp Australia's website.

*In October 22 2018 the WA State Administrative Tribunal (SAT) fined Camp Australia $210,000 for deliberately failing to ensure that no more than 30 children were in attendance at their services at any one time on 14 separate occasions. It was keeping two sets of books to hide that they were looking after more children than their licensing permitted.

*In February 2018 Camp Australia bosses apologised to West Australian families after it was fined $100,000 for failing to ensure a responsible person was present at all times, failing to ensure sufficient educators were present to educate and care for the children present, and failing to keep prescribed documents available for inspection. It was found on 35 separate days in late 2016, Camp Australia failed to ensure a responsible person was present at all times when looking after children. It was also alleged Camp Australia had too many children to too few educators at different points in November and December of the same year, and then failed to keep prescribed documents available for inspection back in February 2017.

It failed to take “every reasonable precaution” to protect the children in its care from harm, or from any hazard against injury back in December 2016. In the same month, the department said the organisation failed to let them know within the prescribed time that a serious incident had occurred at its service and again failed to ensure a responsible person was present while kids were being looked after at the service.

*In 2018 Camp Australia was ordered to pay a penalty of $35,000 for failing to ensure that every reasonable precaution was taken to protect children from harm and hazard, failing to notify the regulatory authority of a serious incident, and failing to ensure a responsible person was present at all times.

*In April 2018 in Queensland a Camp Australia staffer was being investigated by police in response to a complaint at an Ipswich school after a staff member allegedly forcibly removed a four-year-old girl from a slide by her feet leaving her with a “significant” bruise.

* In 2018 in Victoria Camp Australia’s service at Elwood Primary was prosecuted for understaffing after children left the centre unnoticed. The provider was fined $15,000 and order to pay the department’s legal costs and no longer operates.

Children have been let down all over the country.

*In March 2018 Camp Australia’s Hawthorn West Primary School OSHC was issued with a compliance order for failing to deliver and educational program that took into account the individual differences of each child, failing to document child assessments or evaluations, not guiding children towards acceptable behaviour, not taking reasonable to provide opportunities for children to interact and develop respectful and positive relationships with each other and with staff members at the service.

*In December 2018 in South Australia Camp Australia services at Our Lady of Grace School, Camp Australia, Tatachilla Lutheran College School, Investigator College and Victor Harbor were issued with compliance notices for failing to protection of children from harm and hazards, follow health, hygiene and safe food practices, provide safe and clean furniture and equipment, and store records and other documents properly.

*In February 2019 in Victoria Camp Australia’s Beaumaris Primary School service had conditions imposed after it failed to provide adequate supervision of children and protection of children from harm and hazards

*In February 2019 Camp Australia Geelong East Primary School service had condition imposed for inappropriate discipline, failing to protect children from harm and hazards, failure to follow policy and procedures

*In November 2019 Camp Australia faced 48 court charges after alleged understaffing and inadequate record keeping at Gold Coast after school care centres in 2016 and 2017. Including an alleged instance where up to 38 children were allegedly left alone with one staffer. When national regulations require at least one educator for every 15 children over preschool age. Services affected included Park Lake State School, Coomera Spring State School, Emmanuel College, Tallebudgera State School, Tamborine Mountain State School, Varsity College and Currumbin State School.

Schoolchildren were affected across Australia.

The Department of Education case, mentioned in Southport Magistrates Court included:

*Seven breaches at Park Lake State State School OSHC in April and December of 2017 including 46 children left with two staff members. The department also alleged sign in documents at the Pacific Pines facility were not accurate.

* Three staffing ratio breaches in March and April 2017 at the Coomera Springs State School OSHC run by Camp Australia. All charges related to child to carer ratio breaches. The most extreme occurred when one educator was allegedly left with up to 25 children for a period of three hours. Three instances of understaffing at the Emmanuel College OSHC service in January 2017.

* The worst alleged incident was on January 17 where one educator was left to attend 22 children. Five similar cases at the Tallebudgera State School Camp Australia Program in 2017.

* Tamborine Mountain State School had five separate allegations of understaffing and two recording issues where staff allegedly failed to record the presence of a child. An operation at Varsity College recorded eleven alleged offences related to staffing arrangements.

*In one instance in April 2017, 112 children were allegedly under the care of six educators — a ratio of 18.6 to one.

The Currumbin State School facility recorded six alleged cases of staffing ratio offences.

Camp Australia takes its obligations under the Education and Care Services National Law (Queensland) very seriously,” he said. “These proceedings relate to staff rostering and administration issues between late 2016 and early 2017.”

*In the ACT there have been four compliance actions taken against Camp Australia over the past three years in the ACT.

There have been eight serious incidents notifications relating to Camp Australia centres in the ACT these included: a child being injured after falling from monkey bars; a child collected from service by an unapproved person; a child physically abusing other children and staff; staffing below minimum of ratio; children leaving the service after advising co-ordinator that their mother was collecting them.

Compliance actions imposed on Camp Australia centres related to inadequate staffing arrangements and supervision, the requirement that an approved provider keep prescribed documents; and the requirement to protect children from harm and hazards.

One compliance notice was issued in the ACT in March 2019 regarding staffing arrangements and supervision.

One emergency action notice was issued in April 2018 relating to staffing arrangements.

There have been eight complaints received about Camp Australia centres in the ACT within the last three years relating to: children injured at the service; allegations of inappropriate discipline; allegation that educator was not fit for work; concerns around supervision and a lack of staff engagement or experience; concern how an issue was raised to a parent in the presence of another parent and inappropriate interactions between children.

Originally published as Camp Australia’s penalties and fines as new CEO came from shut down training program