Circus busted with Chinese children as acrobats

A circus has been busted illegally using Chinese children as acrobats after a 13-year-old boy ended up in a Melbourne hospital with a serious head injury.

Circus Royal has been fined after it was caught hiring child acrobats without permits. Picture: Jason Edwards

A travelling circus will have to pay out more than $20,000 after it was busted employing three children as aerial acrobats without permits.

The breach only came to light after one child – a 13-year-old boy – spent 10 days in hospital after being hit in the head by a flying trapeze during a performance.

Circus Royale on Tuesday admitted to employing the three Chinese nationals, all aged 13, without proper child employment permits during its travelling production of the Chinese Circus Spectacular in March last year.

The acrobatic troupe comprised of 10 adults and eight children of Chinese heritage and had travelled around Australia and New Zealand performing highly-skilled acrobatic, aerial and juggling routines during the two-hour show.

On March 13, 2020, one boy was rushed to the Royal Children’s Hospital with bruising to the brain and a concussion after he was struck by a trapeze during a late-night show.

The Melbourne Magistrates’ Court heard child protection services were called amid concerns the young boy, who required a Chinese interpreter, was in the country without any parental supervision.

WorkSafe was also alerted to the incident and an investigation was launched by the Wage Inspectorate.

Circus Royale was ordered to pay $22,000.

Magistrate Justin Foster said he was “perplexed” the company had not applied for permits given it had done so in the past.

“This company has been in the business for 50 years, it’s just perplexing that they did not know of their obligations in relation to permits for children,” Mr Foster said during a sentencing hearing.

Commissioner of Wage Inspectorate Victoria Robert Hortle said this was one of the most serious cases they had seen.

“A vulnerable child, thousands of kilometres away from his family, ended up in hospital with serious injuries, before it was discovered that child employment rules weren’t followed,” Commissioner Hortle said.

“This case shows the Wage Inspectorate doesn’t mess around when it comes to the welfare of children in the workplace,” he said.

Kylie Walsh, for the prosecution, said by not applying for permits Circus Royale had denied authorities the opportunity to assess the workplace and potentially protect children from work that may be harmful.

Ms Walsh said companies must be sent a “clear message” and Circus Royale should be fined and convicted for the “blatant disregard” to employment laws.

David Carolan, for the defence, said the business had suffered “catastrophic” financial hardship during the pandemic and predicted a loss of more than half a million dollars in earnings.

Mr Foster said he had some hesitation in sparing Circus Royale a conviction but relied on the company’s good character and early guilty plea.

Circus Royale was fined $15,000 and must pay a further $6000 in costs.