50% spike in serious incidents: Childcare operators reminded how not to lose kids

Childcare operators are being given guidance on how not to lose, leave or lock up kids by the federal regulator, after failings were highlighted by a series of worrying incidents.

Childcare operators have been given instructions on how not to lose children during excursions or leave them on buses by the federal regulator due to a 50 per cent spike in serious incidents.

The Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) has collated red-flag times and locations for lock-ins, lockouts or children going missing. Such incidents are most likely to happen between 4pm and 6pm, during pick-up or drop-off, during excursions, in outdoor play areas, on transport and in bathrooms or toilets and sheds.

Boys aged two to three are most likely to be lost or forgotten at childcare, the authority has told operators.

The ACECQA bulletin, first released in 2023 then reissued last month, details ways to “minimise the risk of children being mistakenly locked in or out of service premises”.

Centres have been told to ensure staff are “active” supervisors of children at all times, especially at the beginning and end of the day . They also must make sure educator-to-child ratios are maintained, conduct regular head-checks and ensure all recordkeeping tracking children on excursions is rigorous.

Recent cases include a toddler who was missing for two hours after a NSW grandfather took the wrong child home last month. The incident took place at First Steps Learning Academy in Bangor, with the centre saying incidents are documented “in line with regulatory requirements and best practice”.

A mother with her son that used to attend First Steps Learning Academy Bangor before leaving due to safety concerns. In September the same childcare centre gave the wrong baby to a grandfather to take home. Picture: Jonathan Ng

And in July, a Perth childcare centre, Aspire Early Education, was fined $45,000 for failing to adequately supervise a child who wandered away from an excursion group in a nature reserve. The operator acknowledged the seriousness of the incident and all spontaneous excursions are now prohibited.

In June in Adelaide, a little boy was allegedly left alone on a locked after-school care bus at Happy Haven OSHC after falling asleep. The operator apologised for the “distressing experience”.

A similar incident occurred in a Northern Territory after-school care program in April, when a child was left on a bus for up to 40 minutes.

Also in Adelaide, two children walked into traffic after escaping from carers at a Blair Athol centre, breaking out through a damaged fence in 2024.

Happy Haven OSHC bus. A child from the centre was left on a bus after falling asleep.

There have also been a number of similar incidents in Queensland resulting in serious fines and legal action by authorities, including a 2022 case where a three-year-old was left on a hot daycare bus for six hours, before being discovered unconscious in the back seat.

Similar incidents have occurred in Victoria, with one child nearly walking into the path of a truck in 2023 after he wandered off during an excursion to a park.

Federal figures from ACECQA’s latest report show the rate of children being missed or unaccounted for has risen 50 per cent over the past eight years - rising from 5.5 per cent of serious incidents to 8.4 per cent of serious incidents.

Police investigating after a child was left on a childcare centre bus in 2022.

The rate of children being locked in or out of a service has also risen markedly from 0.9 per cent to 1.5 per cent of serious incidents from 2017 to 2024. This is despite higher ratings given to childcare centres overall.

Nationally in 2023-24, there were 148 serious incidents per 100 approved childcare services, up from 134 in 2022-23. The rate differs greatly between different types of services, with 199 serious incidents per 100 services in long day care centres compared to 75 per 100 in a preschool setting.

Jess Walsh, Minister for Early Childhood Education, said “every child deserves to be safe in early childhood education and care, and every parent deserves to know their children are safe.

“That’s why we’ve announced a $189 million National Child Safety Package and passed tough new laws to ensure providers put child safety first.”

Opposition education spokesman Jonno Duniam said it was “genuinely concerning that the regulator has seen fit to remind staff of these obligations”.

“This is very serious, and the Coalition obviously urges providers to do all that they can to ensure that no child comes into harm’s way.”

Originally published as 50% spike in serious incidents: Childcare operators reminded how not to lose kids