Education Minister Blair Boyer suggests CCTV trial for childcare centres as two childcare centres each week are facing sanctions
Two childcare centres each week are facing sanctions for allowing children to be injured or escape. Search your centre here.
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Childcare services that have left children in high chairs for six hours, let them wander onto busy roads or suffer anaphylactic shocks are set to be on a federal hit-list to lose funding.
Each week two childcare centres nationally are allowing children to be injured, harmed or escape, leading to serious enforcement action, suspension or even closure.
Analysis of actions taken by childcare watchdogs around the country has revealed that about 300 centres have been slapped with sanctions in the past almost three years, over a range of issues including safety, neglect and harm to children.
In South Australia, so far this year, there have been 40 serious sanctions issued.
The revelations come amid increased scrutiny of the sector following the charging of Victorian childcare worker Joshua Brown with 73 offences relating to eight alleged young victims.
Laws introduced to parliament this week would give the federal government the power to cut funding to childcare centres that break the law, put children at risk or don’t meet standards.
Services where fines have been issued after children were force-fed, subjected to unreasonable discipline or allowed to use a public toilet unsupervised on an excursion will come under renewed scrutiny.
And officials will have more power to conduct random spot checks without a warrant.
SA Education Minister Blair Boyer has backed more unannounced inspections, and also written to federal Education Minister Jason Clare about a potential trial of CCTV surveillance in SA childcare centres.
“I think there’s a place for it,” he told The Advertiser, acknowledging some held concerns about managing the security of live streams or storing footage.
“It’s definitely not a silver bullet. But a trial, in my mind, is a good way forward.”
Mr Boyer stressed any trial should be federally funded.
In 2024 and 2023 there were 43 sanctions issued to SA centres.
In August 2024 two children escaped the Goodstart Early Learning centre in Blair Athol through a broken fence.
In January this year Genius Childcare Blair Athol became the first SA childcare centre forced to close for 14 days to address risks posed to children relating to hygiene, damaged fencing and a faulty fire alarm.
And in July operator Little Shining Stars faced 16 separate actions at five centres in Virginia, Evanston, Klemzig, Pooraka and Wayville for concerns about the storage of images.
Three female workers at the Klemzig centre were sacked following revelations of inappropriate discipline.
In August 2023 the state government gave an extra $7m to the sector watchdog, the Education Standards Board.
Since then, Mr Boyer said inspections had increased 60 per cent and the number of inspectors had doubled to 39.
“They are far more engaged and more active now than they’ve ever been,” he said.
By the end of 2026 the ESB will have cleared a backlog of delayed scheduled inspections, Mr Boyer said, and would begin three-yearly inspections.
“We’ll be the only state or territory doing that, we’ll be the best in Australia,” he said.
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