Free online training course to improve safety at FDC services in WA with pools and spas

The West Australian Government has launched a free online training course to improve safety at family day care (FDC) services operating with swimming pools, spas or water features.

 

FDC providers will face increased oversight requirements from 1 September 2022 as part of a suite of reforms in the sector which aim to address recommendations handed down at the completion of a 2018 coronial inquest into the tragic death of Lachlan Mitchell, who drowned at an FDC service in 2015.

 

“Following the coronial inquest into Lachlan Mitchell’s tragic death, I promised to take the coroner’s recommendations into account, hear views from within the sector and consider public submissions on the potential changes,” Community Services Minister Simone McGurk said.

 

A transition period for impacted services was introduced in 2020 as part of the Decision Regulation Impact Statement to ensure family day care providers and educators had appropriate time to prepare for increased regulatory safety requirements and more oversight by providers.

 

Under the updated regulations to come into effect from 1 September 2022, approved providers will be required to undertake monthly inspections of FDC educators operating at residences with swimming pools, spas or water features as part of improved safety outcomes.

 

To support the process, Communities commissioned the Royal Life Saving Society WA to develop an online training program that offers clear and practical guidance for approved providers on the steps they need to follow to carry out inspections of pools and spas and the outdoor environment.

 

The resource is designed to be intuitive and operates on a train the trainer basis, where approved providers will develop the capacity to train future staff as they become more familiar with the process themselves.

 

For more information about the reforms, please see here.