Compliance

WA OSHC service fined $12,500 after child is left alone in locked bus

Freya Lucas

Mar 22, 2022

Save

A Western Australian outside school hours care (OSHC) service has been penalised $12,500 after a five-year-old boy was left alone on a locked bus.

The State Administrative Tribunal heard the case earlier this month in relation to the June 2021 incident where the boy was collected from his primary school in Margaret River and driven to the OSHC service in question.

Policies and practices had been established by the provider, however the educator responsible for supervising the children failed to follow these in a number of ways including:

Not standing outside the vehicle and calling out the names of the children, signing them off the bus as the exited the vehicle
Not conducting a head count when children entered or exited the vehicle
Not conducting a final sweep of the vehicle prior to locking, including checking for any belongings or people on the bus, including under the seats
Not signing a log book kept on the bus to indicate that procedures had been followed.

The boy was left in the bus for seven minutes, and was discovered when another employee of the approved provider from a different site parked behind the bus and saw movement and called the service to advise of the child’s presence.

The service was this week fined $11,000 by the State Administrative Tribunal and ordered to pay $1,500 in costs to the Department of Communities for failing to adequately supervise the child.

Following the incident, further training was provided and the policy was updated so that each child’s name would be called out before they left the bus, and to include provision for two educators to conduct the bus run.

The agreed facts of the case may be found here.

Don’t miss a thing

NSW Early Learning Commission conducts 220 unannounced visits

More than 100 regulatory officers conducted unannounced inspections at over 220 early learning services in a single-day compliance operation, as the NSW Early Learning Commission intensifies oversight across the sector.

Failing the Most Vulnerable: Two WA Childcare Providers Penalised Over Supervision Breaches

In February the Western Australian State Administrative Tribunal handled two separate disciplinary proceedings brought by the CEO of the Department of Communities against out-of-school-hours care (OSHC) providers. Both cases highlight critical failures in active supervision, particularly concerning highly vulnerable children diagnosed with autism who managed to wander away from their respective services unnoticed.

What Can Australia Learn from Ontario’s Child Care Ratios?

As workforce pressures continue to shape early childhood education and care (ECEC) policy discussions in Australia, international comparisons provide useful perspectives. Canada’s approach, particularly in Ontario, offers a case study in how educator-to-child ratios, maximum group sizes and qualification requirements can be legislated as an integrated framework.

National Early Childhood Worker Register: commencing 27 February 2026

The introduction of the National Early Childhood Worker Register from the 27 February, has signalled a significant shift in workforce oversight across early childhood education and care (ECEC).

Regulation 168: do you understand your leadership responsibilities

Regulation 168 of the Education and Care Services National Regulations is not a policy checklist. For approved providers and nominated supervisors, it is a test of governance capability, risk oversight and leadership influence. The critical question is not whether policies exist, it is whether leadership understands how to review, embed and monitor them effectively.

NSW Early Learning Commission conducts 220 unannounced visits

Failing the Most Vulnerable: Two WA Childcare Providers Penalised Over Supervision Breaches

What Can Australia Learn from Ontario’s Child Care Ratios?

National Early Childhood Worker Register: commencing 27 February 2026

The introduction of the National Early Childhood Worker Register from the 27 February, has signalled a significant shift in workforce oversight across early childhood education and care (ECEC).