Educator from western Sydney early learning service charged over alleged assault

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Fiona Alston

Oct 27, 2025

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An early childhood educator from a Doonside long day care service has been charged with multiple counts of assault following reports of alleged physical abuse of a child in their care.

NSW Police say officers from Blacktown Police Area Command received a report on Monday 20 October 2025 that a childcare worker had allegedly assaulted a child multiple times on Monday 13 October at a service located on Power Street in Doonside, in Sydney’s west.

Following inquiries, a 28-year-old woman was charged with five counts of common assault on Thursday 23 October. She was issued a court attendance notice and is due to appear before Blacktown Local Court on 4 December 2025.

The provider, Little Zak’s Academy, operates multiple early childhood services across New South Wales. When contacted by The Sector, a spokesperson for the organisation responded: “We have no comment to add beyond what was reported last week.”

Under the Education and Care Services National Law and Regulations, approved providers are required to ensure that children are protected from harm and hazard at all times, and that educators are ‘fit and proper’ to provide education and care.

In a further development, the provider Little Zak’s Academy has announced that its Doonside centre will voluntarily suspend its service approval, citing the need to “rebuild our educator team from the ground up” following the incident.

This case has prompted renewed discussion across the sector about:

The role of recruitment, induction, and supervision in safeguarding children;
The importance of transparent and timely incident response;
The need for ongoing trauma-informed training and support for educators;
Embedding a strong culture of child safety in line with the National Quality Standard, particularly Quality Area 2: Children’s health and safety.

While the legal process is ongoing, the incident serves as a critical reminder of the sector’s shared responsibility to uphold the highest standards of safety, care and professionalism in early childhood settings.

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