Early Learning Centre Albury suspended for six months over child safety concerns

The NSW Early Learning Commission has suspended the service approval of Kidscape Early Learning Centre Albury for six months, citing ongoing non-compliance and significant risks to children’s safety.

The decision took effect immediately. The service must remain closed while it addresses the issues identified by the regulator. An investigation is continuing.

According to the Commission, authorised officers identified failures to adequately supervise children and protect them from harm and hazards, along with an unsafe indoor and outdoor environment. The regulator also raised concerns about inadequate resources for children’s ages and stages of development, staff induction processes, and awareness of child protection legislation and reporting requirements.

NSW Early Learning Commissioner Daryl Currie said authorised officers had identified immediate risks to children. He said the Commission had worked with the service to improve quality, making multiple visits and issuing compliance actions over two years before deciding to suspend its approval.

“I understand the impact service closures have on families, especially in regional areas like Albury,” Mr Currie said in the Commission’s statement. He said the regulator would take decisive action when children’s safety was at risk.

The Commission says the suspension followed several breaches of the Education and Care Services National Law. Its public statement names the broad areas of concern but does not set out each incident or provide a full chronology of its earlier compliance actions. It has not announced findings of abuse by any individual.

The suspension is set to remain in place for six months, but that does not mean the service will automatically reopen at the end of that period. The Commission said Kidscape must close and address the issues to ensure there is no further risk to children’s health, safety and wellbeing before it can be permitted to reopen. It may take further compliance action against the provider if appropriate once its investigation progresses.

The regulator said all enrolled families had been contacted and offered help to find alternative care. An immediate closure can be particularly disruptive for families who need to make new arrangements around work, study and children’s routines.

The matters listed by the Commission reach beyond a single policy or physical hazard. Supervision, a safe environment, induction and knowledge of reporting responsibilities all depend on how a service operates each day. For providers, a compliance response needs to establish that changes are understood by staff and working in practice, including during transitions and other busy periods.

That is a sector-wide practice consideration, not a finding about the causes of every issue at Kidscape. The regulator’s investigation is still open. For now, its published decision establishes that it considered the risks serious enough to require the Albury service to stop operating immediately, with families offered assistance while alternative care is arranged.