Approved provider faces Queensland court over child left in bus

The director of a family trust, which is also the approved provider for a long day care centre, appeared before Rockhampton Magistrates Court yesterday in relation to a serious incident which occurred in 2022.

The Queensland Regulatory Authority prosecuted the service’s approved provider for failing to:

• ensure children are adequately supervised
• take every reasonable precaution to protect children from harm and hazards likely to cause injury
• ensure staff follow the service’s policies and procedures
• ensure the service’s records are accurate.

The director was ‘visibly shaken’ while pleading guilty to the four charges, and was fined $50,000 plus $2,750 in court costs.

The incident occurred after a three-year-old girl was picked up from Gracemere at approximately 8.30am on May 4, 2022, driven to the centre, and left on board the bus, strapped into a car seat. 

She remained on the bus throughout the day before being discovered unconscious at 2.45pm. 

The child was then airlifted to a Brisbane hospital with critical injuries caused by heat stress and given only a five per cent chance of survival. Thankfully, she has now made a full recovery.

Both the bus driver and the centre director previously pled guilty to one count each of grievous bodily harm and were sentenced in Rockhampton District Court in July 2023 in relation to the incident.

At that time, as a result of her guilty plea, the centre director was given a three-year jail term, wholly suspended for five years.

The driver of the bus received two years and eight months’ jail, also wholly suspended for five years.

Both women lost their jobs, and are unable to continue working in the early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector. 

The approved provider was found guilty of four charges, including one count each of failing to adequately supervise children and failing to protect a child from harm and/or hazard likely to cause injury.

Her defence barrister emphasised that the woman had cooperated with the regulatory authority at all stages, and tended five character references on her behalf, including some from parents of children in care at the centre.

In reaching his decision the magistrate noted the feedback from families, the impact that the incident had had on the approved provider, and that new policies and procedures were introduced at the centre after the incident with the director taking steps “immediately to address issues”.

“This prosecution sends a strong message to approved providers that they have an overriding responsibility to ensure children are adequately supervised and protected from harm when they are transported as this type of incident could result in a child’s serious injury or death,” a statement issued by the Regulatory Authority notes.

No conviction was recorded. Further information about the case is available here.