WA service fined $13,000 after child walks home from service unsupervised

Freya Lucas

Sep 12, 2022

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A Western Australian early childhood service, which also offers before and after school care, was fined $12,000 in penalties and $1,000 in legal costs after an eight-year-old child left the service and walked home unsupervised.

It was only when another child asked where the child who left was that educators realised the child was missing, at which point a search was conducted, and the child was located at his home after about 15 minutes.

The incident took place in December last year, with the child taking a number of shortcuts along bush paths to reach his home, which is approximately 1km from the service.

An investigation by the Department of Communities found that the service did not have any locking mechanisms or alarms on its doors to alert educators to children leaving the service unattended.

Department Executive Director of Regulation and Quality Phil Payne said the Regulatory Authority is again warning service providers about the importance of supervision and security of barriers.

“It is very concerning where centres do not have adequate practices and training in place, despite the reporting of these past incidents over recent years.”

“Approved providers must ensure that supervision training is provided to all staff, and that staff are able to effectively supervise all children in their care, and staff should also be aware of individual children’s needs and behaviours and put adequate management plans in place.”

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