Provider approval cancelled after educators told to over enrol and ‘shuffle’ out of ratio

The NSW Department of Education has cancelled the provider approval of a Sydney long day care (LDC) operator who was found to have intentionally over enrolled its services on multiple sites, directing centre staff to ‘shuffle’ the children to its other centres without parental approval to avoid being over ratio in the event of a Regulatory Authority visit. 

 

The approved provider, who The Sector has elected not to name, operated three LDC services in the western Sydney suburbs of Cabramatta, Fairfield and Canley Vale. 

 

The Regulatory Authority raised a number of concerns, including failing to ensure that staff had working with children checks, and that the approved provider had threatened staff via text message, saying “if there is one more complaint from parents or one more child pulling out [the applicant] will terminate staff.”

 

In another incident, in January 2023, the approved provider sent a text message to staff telling the “transport team” to choose the children whose parents were “less problematic” to be taken out of the centre to ensure appropriate staff to child ratios were not exceeded.

 

In May of 2023 a complaint was made when three children were put into the service van, and left in the van parked on the street to escape detection by the Regulatory Authority, allegedly without water or their personal belongings. 

 

The Regulatory Authority was also concerned about the practices of the approved provider, who they alleged was targeting vulnerable families and overcharging child care subsidy by claiming five days’ child care subsidy entitlement whilst only providing three days of care.

 

The NSW Department of Education noted a number of other issues in relation to the conduct and practices of the approved provider including but not limited to: 

 

• Intentional over enrollment students which lead to ratios being exceeded;

 

• Moved children between centres without parental consent to minimise over enrolment and in an attempt to avoid detection during times of inspection 

 

• Concealed the true number of children present at each centre, including by providing care for children in the home of the approved provider (which was not a licensed family day care venue) 

 

• Taking children on ‘excursions’ to public libraries and supermarkets without parental permission, again to avoid revealing the true number of children in attendance 

 

• Offering staff financial incentives to ‘over enrol’ and threatening staff with a reduction in pay if the inflated enrolment numbers were not maintained

 

• Directing staff to use unlicensed space (the upper floor of the building where the LDC occupied other parts of the building) to cater for the larger number of children attending

 

• Making parents wait at one service while their children were retrieved from the sister site

 

• Using high chairs as restrictive practice/to restrain children inappropriately

 

• Selecting non verbal children (through age or additional need) to be moved to non-approved areas, other services or taken on ‘excursions’

 

• Wilfully classifying over enrolments as “emergency placements” without evidence

 

• Penalising staff for raising their concerns about ‘operational inadequacies’ with other staff

 

• Failing to notify the Regulatory Authority about serious incidents, including injuries and assaults 

 

• Failing to keep proper injury records and incident report registers 

 

• Failing to “treat properly, or at all attend to treating serious injuries” to children whilst at the centre

 

The approved provider had attempted to delay the cancellation, appealing the decision and citing that an external consultant had been hired to rectify the items brought to his attention. 

 

Despite the appeal NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) senior member Craig Mulvey found the cancellation was necessary to “ensure the safety, health and wellbeing of children attending education and care services at the relevant centres”.

 

The approved provider, he said, initially denied moving children from one centre to another and then tried to shift blame when shown evidence that contradicted his version of events.

 

There was little evidence by the approved provider or the LDC centres answering the allegations or explaining their conduct, he noted.

 

Mr Mulvey acknowledged that while there would be inconvenience to the parents of children enrolled in centres now shut down, this had to be balanced against the “ongoing risk of serious harm” these facilities posed.

 

Full details surrounding the NCAT decision are available on the Tribunal’s website, here.