Melbourne childcare centres fail safety standards

Dodgy, unsafe child-carers in Maribyrnong, Brimbank and Wyndham have been exposed. Search your daycare to see if it makes the list.

A review found 230 Victorian childcare providers were closed or issued serious safety notices between 2018 and 2020. Picture: iStock

Dodgy, unsafe daycare providers in Maribyrnong, Brimbank and Wyndham have been exposed in a shocking review of the state’s childcare centres.

More than one Victorian childcare provider a week was shut down or censured for serious failings, the review found, while 230 were closed or issued serious safety notices by the State Government between 2018 and 2020.

In some cases children were found in the care of criminals.

Other children were inappropriately disciplined, housed in unsafe premises or exposed to harm.

One disturbing incident at Werribee West Family Centre saw two children escape and run across a busy road without staff knowledge.

In another incident, the owner of Sunshine’s Abiel Family Day Care had their licence revoked in 2019 after they were found to have a criminal history.

Kare 4 Kids in Footscray had adults living at the premises who had not completed a Working with Children check.

Family day cares across Melbourne, but particularly those in Footscray, Tarneit, Truganina and Sunshine, were found to have a litany of serious health and safety faults.

Community Childcare Association executive director Julie Price said it was hard for parents to choose quality care.

“Parents need to ask who owns the service and how it is run,” she said.

“Many private centres make profits that do not go back into improving the quality of care.”

Some services flagged with authorities for posing serious risks went years without formal federal audits.

Big names in the child care sector were also found to be at fault, including holiday, before and after school care providers.

Camp Australia at Elwood Primary was fined $15,000 for letting children leave without authorisation.

Safety issues, discipline and supervision breaches were also raised at a YMCA in Cranbourne North and a Guardian Early Learning Centre in Doreen.

Victoria’s Education Department is responsible for regulating the services.

Early Childhood Minister Ingrid Stitt said the vast majority of the state’s 4500 early childhood services did a fantastic job.

“But we want parents to rest assured action is taken if providers do the wrong thing,” she said.

Family Day Care chief executive Andrew Paterson acknowledged a number of services had been removed or monitored, but he said there was “a lot of good work being done” to ensure compliance.

Fitzroy North Childcare Co-op was highlighted as good example of a daycare operator that exceeded six of the seven federal standards.

Director Alison Bradshaw said the centre was run by a committee of volunteer parents “who are all about supporting our families and supporting the staff to ensure a high quality service”.