‘Extreme actions’: Health, hygiene risks as Blair Athol childcare centre shut down over safety concerns

A Blair Athol family would rather send their kids to a childcare centre that let two children run onto a busy main road than their previous one. Find out why.

The outdoor play space was one of the issues raised in the emergency action notice. Picture: Sam Lowe

A Blair Athol mother says she would prefer to send her kids to a childcare centre where two children got out and ran on to one of Adelaide’s busiest roads, than one that has been closed over alleged health and safety issues.

Genius Childcare Blair Athol was handed an emergency action notice by the Education Standards Board on January 31 for failing to protect children from possible harm and hazards, including a lack of cleanliness.

Education Minister Blair Boyer said he supported any closure if children were allegedly at risk. Picture: Keryn Stevens

An Education Department spokeswoman said forcing the centre to close for 14 days to remove or reduce the safety risks was one of the most extreme actions ever taken against a childcare centre in South Australia.

Education Minister Blair Boyer said he supported any closure if children were allegedly at risk. “Hygiene, cleanliness, the state of the floor was in disrepair, the fire alarm was not functioning as it was supposed to, and the fencing was damaged,” he said.

“The government does take it seriously and will shut the service. Once we take this action to say you can’t operate, it’s the second-most serious action outside of cancelling a licence.”

Blair Athol mum Usha, who is among those parents affected by the closure, described hygiene at Genius Childcare as unacceptable, with her two children often coming home sick.

With the centre temporarily closed, she had decided to move her son and daughter to the nearby Goodstart Early Learning atBlair Athol – even though two children had escaped through a broken fence on to Main North Rd last August. After repairs to the centre, Usha said she was happy to send her children there.

“My daughter used to go to Goodstart and she was doing good, but when we transferred her (to Genius Childcare) because it was closer, she was so sick,” she said.

“One time, my son didn’t go for a month because my husband didn’t want to send him as he just kept getting sick.”

Usha said she was told little about the closure and that it hadn’t been the first instance of poor communication, with one occurrence resulting in her having to pay hundreds of dollars more than her usual fee.

The board’s acting registrar, Sean Heffernan, said he was unable to comment on specific details regarding Genius Childcare.

“The (emergency action) notice allows 14 days for the service to rectify issues,” he said.

“Failure by the service to do so within the 14 days may result in further action being undertaken which may include conditions on service approval, suspension or cancellation.”

Genius, which has centres nationwide, did not comment.

Originally published as ‘Extreme actions’: Health, hygiene risks as Blair Athol childcare centre shut down over safety concerns