WA early learning provider penalised for inadequate supervision of child

Trinity Early Learning School Pty Ltd, operator of Keiki Early Learning Alkimos in Western Australia, has been ordered to pay $18,000 by the State Administrative Tribunal for failing to adequately supervise a child, in breach of the Education and Care Services National Law.

The penalty follows a Department of Communities investigation into a serious supervision breach that occurred on 23 January 2025. The investigation found that a three-year-old child left the Alkimos-based early learning service unaccompanied and unsupervised for approximately five minutes.

Educators at the service did not notice the child was missing until a member of the public safely returned the child to the premises.

Although the early learning service was operating within the required educator-to-child ratios at the time, the Tribunal determined that the incident resulted from inadequate supervision practices. Trinity Early Learning School Pty Ltd was also ordered to contribute $2,000 towards the Department’s legal costs.

Executive Director of Regulation and Quality at the Department of Communities, Angelo Barbaro, emphasised the sector-wide importance of rigorous supervision.

“Inadequate supervision continues to be a major issue within the education and care sector,” Mr Barbaro said.
“The Department of Communities’ Education and Care Regulatory Unit actively reminds service providers of the dangers of inadequate supervision.
“It’s the responsibility of the service providers to ensure their staff follow the supervision policies and procedures in place to prevent incidents like this from occurring.”

Further information on the Tribunal’s decision is available on the eCourts website.