Department of Communities investigating OSHC service over bus lock in incident

The West Australian Department of Communities, in its capacity as the state’s Regulatory Authority, is investigating after a six year old child was left in a bus earlier this month. 

The alleged incident took place in Ellenbrook, with early reports indicating the child was left unattended for ‘at least five minutes’ inside the mini-van which collected children from local schools before returning them to the outside school hours care (OSHC) service. 

According to Bureau of Meteorology records from the day in question the temperature at the time of the alleged incident was 29C. Staff members realised the child was missing after calling the roll when entering the centre, going back out to the bus to find the child.

The service was suspended last week and its doors were expected to remain closed for at least another week while the Regulatory Authority investigates the incident.

The child at the centre of the incident was unharmed, however the parents were “understandably concerned.” 

Speaking with The West Australian the service’s owner said the safety of children is taken very seriously, and that the incident was a first for the service in its seven years of operation. 

“It was just one staff member that, for some reason, didn’t follow procedure,” she said.

“It’s something that’s really upset me, because we always follow procedures and policies and I don’t know why this happened on this day.”

The Department of Communities confirmed the Education and Care Regulatory Unit was investigating a complaint.

Between 2017 and 2023, the Regulator initiated 12 disciplinary proceedings in the State Administrative Tribunal (SAT) against early childhood education and care (ECEC) services for leaving children unattended inside vehicles.

Stronger transport regulations for ECEC services were implemented in March, 2023 — including a requirement to physically check a bus interior to ensure no child is left behind — because there had been so many incidents.

Since then, action has been taken against two services after they were both found to have left children on buses.

The original coverage of this story is available here.