Increase in injured kids at childcare, Productivity Commission data reveals

More than 24,000 children were injured, became gravely ill, were lost or ran away in childcare last year, when ambulances were called to 3053 emergencies.

New Productivity Commission data reveals 18,744 cases of serious injury, trauma or illness requiring treatment by a doctor – 14 per cent more than the year before. Picture: Getty Images

More than 24,000 children were injured, became gravely ill, were lost or ran away in childcare last year, when ambulances were called to 3053 emergencies.

The number of “serious incidents’’ in childcare reached a ­record high in 2022-23, as day­care centres grappled with unprecedented staffing shortages post-pandemic.

New Productivity Commission data reveals 18,744 cases of serious injury, trauma or illness requiring treatment by a doctor – 14 per cent more than the year before. Emergency services attended 3053 “serious incidents”.

And 2315 children were locked in or out of a childcare centre, taken without authorisation, or “unaccounted for’’.

The most serious incidents involved babies, toddlers and preschoolers attending long daycare, although one in five occurred in before- and after-school care centres.

The “serious incidents’’ include broken limbs, severe asthma attacks, seizures or anaphylaxis reactions.

The data shows a record 33,366 breaches of childcare regulations in 2022-23 – 24 per cent more than the previous year. The number of regulatory breaches has doubled in six years.

The data shows that 1034 childcare centres – or one in every 15 – failed to meet minimum standards for children’s health and safety in 2023. ­Another 459 centres, or 2.9 per cent, failed to meet staffing regulations.

“Breaches vary in circumstance and severity,’’ the report says.

“Some breaches can have ­serious implications for the quality of care provided to children, such as requirements to undertake criminal record checks for staff and requirements to install smoke detectors.

“Other breaches do not necessarily directly affect the quality of care, such as requirements to display National Qualify Framework approval information.

“A high or increasing rate of confirmed breaches does not necessarily mean that a (state or territory) has lower service safety and quality, as it might mean it has a more effective reporting and monitoring regime.’’

The federal government poured $11.6bn into childcare in 2022-23, through fee subsidies for parents. Federal funding has soared 57 per cent since 2013-14, but average families are paying more for childcare.

Last year, a family with two parents each earning $90,000, spent 6.9 per cent of their take-home pay on out-of-pocket childcare costs for one child in 30 hours of care. In 2019, childcare costs chewed up 5.8 per cent of the average family budget.

The data also shows that 58,700 parents are not working because they cannot afford childcare. Another 12,000 parents want to work, but cannot find a childcare place nearby.