Injuries, illnesses and trauma reach seven year high in Territory early childhood education centres

The Territory has the second worst rate of childcare centres meeting the National Quality Standards in the nation, with almost one in five centres failing their tests. See how your centre ranks.

Emergency call-outs to Territory daycare centres have doubled in the past 12 months, while the number of injuries has reached a seven-year high.

Just weeks after the death of a toddler following a serious medical incident at a childcare centre, the NT Education Department has confirmed the number of injuries, trauma, illnesses — including those requiring emergency responses — has shot up in the past 12 months.

The Productivity Commission found there were 191 recorded instances of kids being injured, or exposed to trauma or illness in 2021-22.

But new NT Education Department statistics confirmed that number has jumped to 219 serious incidents in the last financial year.

This is the highest number of recorded injuries or illnesses in the past seven years.

The Education Department data also suggests the severity of those incidents has increased, with almost double the amount of emergency services responses, going from 15 in 2021-22, to 29 last year.

There were also 38 occasions where a Territory child was either locked in or out, taken away or unaccounted for in 2022-23, compared to 32 the previous year.

An Education spokeswoman said injuries and illnesses ranged from minor bumps, grazes and colds to “more serious injuries and illness that require follow-up medical attention”.

The new statistics come just days after a Top End mum and dad held a funeral for their two-year-old daughter after a serious incident at the Humpty Doo Community and Child Care Centre on Thursday August 31.

The Humpty Doo childcare centre where a girl had a medical incident leading to her death. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

The Humpty Doo centre incident is the second death connected to a Territory childcare centre in a decade, and comes six years after a baby girl died of meningococcal disease after attending the Malak Family Centre in 2017.

There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing on the part of the centre.

All Territory childcare centres are meant to be assessed against the National Quality Standards, which are set by the regulator the Australian Children‘s Education and Care Quality Authority.

The Productivity Commission confirmed only 83 per cent of approved centres in the Territory were meeting or exceeding the NQS, which assesses the quality of education, children’s health and safety, physical environment, staffing, relationships with children, collaboration with families and governance

This was the second worst rate in the nation with the NT only ranked above the Australian Capital Territory.

When looking just at safety assessments guidelines only 11 of the Territory’s 213 childcare centres are currently “exceeding” the national standards, according to the ACECQA. 

In 2020 Humpty Doo Community and Child Care Centre was assessed as meeting the NQS.

More than 85 per cent of all centres were “meeting” the safety quality area standards, while 20 centres were failing that assessment.

The Productivity Commission also found there were 118 confirmed breaches at Territory childcare centres in the 2021-22 financial year.

The Education Department has not disclosed how many resulted in regulatory action or released the outcomes of noncompliance, saying it adopts a “educative regulatory approach” to assist centres in complying with the regulations.

“Investigations are enacted following a robust triage process that is undertaken on receipt of any complaint or notification,” a spokeswoman said.

“The regulatory authority also utilises various compliance tools available under the law to ensure swift resolution of issues that regulators consider to be of a serious nature.

“The use of these means is combined with dialogue with services and providers to maintain safe service provision.”

However the Education Department said it would review publishing noncompliance decisions, in line with other Australian jurisdictions.

The ACECQA data confirmed some Territory centres are going more than six years between the Education Department regulatory reviews.

It found more than a third of Territory daycare centres have not had a review of their NQS in the past three years — with 73 of the 213 centres have not be reassessed since 2019.

There were also 15 centres continued to operate without any NQS assessment, despite some being in operation for nearly two years.

This is despite the latest Productivity Commission finding the Territory had the best rate of reassessment in Australia, with 16 per cent of all services being checked in 2022.

Originally published as Injuries, illnesses and trauma reach seven year high in Territory early childhood education centres