Staff ratios ignored as early learning centres leave 14 children with one worker
Childcare educators are risking their jobs by speaking out about dangerous staffing practices leaving up to 14 children with only one adult in the room.
Childcare operators are exploiting staffing ratios, leaving children “unsupported and unsupervised for long periods of time,” educators will tell the federal minister on Monday.
One early learning educator said a single staff member was left with as many as 14 children while their co-worker was “counted downstairs to make up the numbers”.
Early Education Minister Jess Walsh and the industry regulator - the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) - will meet with the United Workers Union (UWU) on Monday to discuss the steps workers say are being taken by centre operators to hide staffing shortages or save money.
The union, which represents 150,000 workers nationally, will present messages from 1260 concerned educators detailing the way essential ratios are not being met because staff are being moved to other rooms and asked to perform other duties.
Ratios differ between states, but generally range from one staff looking after four babies up to one staff for ten children in preschool rooms.
A union survey of more than 3000 educators released in July found 77 per cent of educators said they were operating below minimum staffing levels in their rooms at least weekly, and 42 per cent said it was occurring daily.
In the same survey, 83% of educators strongly agreed the loophole compromises the safety and wellbeing of children.
This is despite ACECA’s own data only showing only one in ten centres across the country has an official waiver allowing them to operate without meeting staffing ratios. This ranges from 14.5 per cent in NSW to 2.3 per cent in Victoria and is mostly used in remote or hard-to-staff areas.
In addition, more than 1000 educators have also rated their own centres through the union’s EarlyEd Quality Check, sharing their stories of understaffing and workload pressures.
“Educators have told us time after time that understaffing is a huge issue in the sector, and the misuse of under-the-roof ratios is leaving children and families in an impossible position,” UWU early education director Carolyn Smith said.
“If parents fully understood that a centre that meets all legal staffing requirements can actually staff well below those stated legal requirements by shifting educators out of rooms into other rooms – or shifting someone on to an admin task – I think they would be horrified.
“For too long the sector has been turning a blind eye to a loophole that was supposed to be used sparingly, but is now a standard practice that is putting children at risk,” she said.
In September the Federal Government tasked ACECQA to review supervision practices in early education, following reports of tragic safety issues in the sector.
Ms Walsh said she looks forward to the meeting on Monday. “Educators tell me some providers don’t follow staffing ratios set under the National Quality Framework and that is completely unacceptable,” she said.
Submissions from early childhood educators to Jess Walsh and ACECQA:
“I have seen the impact this loophole has on children, families and educators. Leaving children unsupported and unsupervised for extended periods. Families twisting in the wind with injured children unable to ascertain how this was allowed to happen, contributing heavily to educator burnout resulting in lost talent, and expertise. It’s putting the workforce and children in extreme danger, all for the sake of a corporation being able to squeeze money from families and communities. This is not right, it is not in the interest of our young people and must end now!”
Victorian educator
“Children are being placed in risky situations while their parents believe they are receiving quality education and care. If it wasn’t the wrong thing to do then parents would be fully made aware of the misuse of the under the roof ratios. It’s clearly wrong, unsafe and downright dodgy.”
New South Wales educator
“As an early childhood leader, I see every day how under-the-roof ratios fail children and educators. On paper, they meet regulations, but in reality, they leave rooms understaffed, disrupt relationships, and increase stress. Children miss out on consistent care, and educators burn out trying to cover gaps. Ending under-the-roof ratios would ensure fairness, stability, and quality education for every child.”
New South Wales educator
“We’re in survival mode, not providing quality care. We juggle too much with too few hands. Blanket rules like phone bans make things worse. We love our jobs, but without change—like ending under-the-roof ratios and respecting educators—we won’t last. The system is failing children, and it’s breaking us. We need support, not blame.”
Victorian educator
“I have personally experienced situations where one educator is expected to manage eleven or twelve children alone. The constant pressure of managing so many children without support results in high levels of anxiety, physical exhaustion, and mental stress. Each day is filled with anxiety.”
Western Australia educator
“My centre is multi-level. This means one educator can be left upstairs with 14 children, while another is counted downstairs to ‘make up the numbers’. On paper it looks compliant. In reality, it’s unsafe, isolating, and unfair. Children deserve genuine supervision and connection, not a numbers game. Educators deserve support, not impossible expectations.”
South Australian centre director
“The current under roof ratio system is not fair, not fair to children and not fair to staff who are walking on eggshells every day they go into work, not knowing what the day will bring!”
Queensland educator
“Educators are drowning… staff turn over is insane and I absolutely can’t see myself staying in this industry. I adore children but the paper work and workload is too insane.”
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Originally published as Staff ratios ignored as early learning centres leave 14 children with one worker
