Hundreds of Victorian childcare services not up to standard

Hundreds of childcare services in Victoria are not meeting federal standards to care for kids and keep them safe. See who is missing the mark.

Nearly 400 childcare services in Victoria are not meeting federal standards, with some last assessed up to eight years ago, new data shows.

Overall, four in ten family daycare centres have an assessment of “working towards” quality standards, along with 11 per cent of outside school hours services, 11 per cent of long daycare centres and four per cent of kinders.

Some services have had to wait seven years or more to receive an assessment of their ability to care for children and keep them safe.

One third had the same “working towards” rating the last time they were audited, suggesting they have not improved in more than six years.

The KindiCare data shows Maria Montessori Early Learning in Thomastown, a long daycare centre, was last assessed in May 2015. Twelve other services in Noble Park, Point Cook, Echuca and Diamond Creek, among other locations, were last audited in 2016.

Some of the nation’s biggest childcare providers have services that are still working towards meeting standards including the YMCA, Goodstart Early Learning centres, Busy Bees, Camp Australia and a number of Montessori providers.

Dylan, Felix, Luca and Max at Powlett Reserve Children’s Centre. Picture: Tim Carrafa

Benjamin Balk, CEO KindiCare said despite this, Victoria’s early learning centres “performed above the national average, showing resilience in the face of the world’s longest lockdowns during the pandemic”.

But Megan O’Connell from the Early Learning Association of Australia said it was taking too long for assessments to be conducted.

“It’s not dangerous but it’s clear some services are not delivering the highest educational benefit,” she said.

Paul Mondo, CEO of the Australian Childcare Alliance, said spot compliance checks were still being done but assessments for quality ratings needed to be conducted more frequently.

“The ratings don’t always reflect the service at that point and there are very good chances that services have been improved,” he said.

At the other end of the scale, 57 per cent of kinders are rated as “exceeding” federal standards, along with 21 per cent of long daycare services, eight per cent of outside school hours care and eight per cent of family daycare centres.

One of the excellent performers is Powlett Reserve Children’s Centre. Executive director Rebecca Vouch said “all the stakeholders within the organisation have worked together to achieve this high rating”.

“It was a wow moment to show what we had been working on, and to be recognised for our

work and dedication,” she said.

“Children’s voices are valued within our organisation and we work closely with parents and

families for the best outcomes,” Ms Vouch said.

She said the ratings system was important because “it keeps all services to a high standard”.