An educator caught violating safety rules can continue to work and change providers, exploiting a loophole discovered by the government’s child care safety measures.
Earlier this week, Education Minister Jason Clare said the government had stripped childcare providers of Commonwealth funding for the first time under new safety standards introduced last year.
Laugh & Learn Family Day Care Education & Training has been stripped of its funding, affecting more than 30 off-site family daycare centers after two of them, both in Craigieburn, were found to have had serious safety standards breached.
Jason Clare said the government had issued 115 notices to the centers since February. (ABC News: Ian Cutmore)
Violations included exposing children to bleach and rat poison and failing to properly secure a water feature.
The new legislation does not prevent the two teachers from re-registering with another provider and continuing to receive Commonwealth funding, a government source confirmed.
The new service provider will have discretion to ensure that educators are meeting regulatory requirements for quality and safety and will be subject to increased scrutiny as a result of ongoing investigations.
Laugh & Learn Family Day Care Education & Training told the ABC that all of its teachers, including the two who breached safety standards, remain employed and have begun re-registering with other providers.
A child care provider who has no funds is in charge.
They claim that all the issues raised have been resolved.
However, documents uploaded to the Department of Education’s enforcement registry show the supplier failed to address safety issues identified by the Victorian Early Childhood Education Regulatory Authority (VECRA).
The ABC understands the provider is appealing the decision to the Victorian regulator and the revocation of its approval will take effect on July 4.
The regulator expressed “serious concerns” about the provider
The Department for Education has confirmed that following an investigation, all services associated with the provider will not be eligible for further Commonwealth funding.
“The department’s investigation into Laugh and Learn’s family child care and education (provider) has concluded, resulting in the revocation of Child Care Subsidy (CCS) approval,” a Department of Education spokesperson said in a statement.
“The department’s decision is about CCS approval of the provider, not individual faculty.”
All facilities operated by Laugh & Learn Family Day Care Education & Training will be defunded. (ABC News: Steve Martin)
Mr Clare’s office declined to comment on the matter.
While the federal government can cut funding for service providers, the power to ban a person from working in the sector rests with state regulators.
VECRA said it had “serious concerns” about the provider, which not only failed to meet national quality standards, but had also failed to comply with national legislation over the past 12 months.
“VECRA has closely monitored this provider and has set clear expectations during this time to ensure the service meets the required standards,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
“However, we have not seen the level of progress we expected. When children’s health, safety and well-being are at risk, we will take swift action.”
In its statement, the supplier said the compliance and environmental issues were limited to a few faculty residences and were resolved immediately.
“The necessary repair work was completed, necessary follow-up processes were undertaken, and the affected faculty residences were subsequently assessed as meeting the standards required to continue operations,” the statement said.
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“We believe this demonstrates our commitment to the safety of children and our willingness to act immediately when concerns arise.”
Calling the regulator’s decision “devastating”, they added that it would impact teachers and children in their care.
“This decision concerns not only our services. It affects hardworking families who rely on affordable early education and care, dedicated educators dedicated to nurturing and protecting children, and most importantly, children who may lose the trusting relationships they have built with the educators they know and love.”
In an effort to improve child safety, the Albanian government has launched a National Register of Early Childhood Workers to centralize relevant permits, qualifications, training and enforcement measures.
The supplier is required to disclose any notice of enforcement action against it, and government regulators monitor compliance.
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The registry is part of a wider campaign to improve safety and prevent child abuse after the arrest of a worker accused of multiple crimes against children exposed systemic failures.
Since the safety legislation came into force in February, the government has issued notices to 115 centres, with 47 of them addressing safety concerns and a further seven having given up their license to operate.
Calls to close the loophole
Greens early childhood spokeswoman Steph Hodgins-May called on Labor to immediately close the loophole.
“If there are loopholes that can be exploited by unscrupulous actors, Labour’s reforms are simply not good enough,” she told the ABC.
“The vast majority of educators are dedicated, skilled professionals who do incredible work every day. But anyone who has proven they cannot meet even the most basic standards of care and safety has no place working with young children.”
Steph Hodgins-May fears unscrupulous actors could exploit the loophole. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)
She said the government should also create a national watchdog with the power to “intervene before children are put at risk”.
Shadow children’s care minister Matt O’Sullivan agreed there should be consequences for providers who flout safety rules.
“When serious breaches of safety occur in any form of child care there must be consequences and providers must be held to account,” he told the ABC.
“But if a provider loses access to funding due to irregularities related to another educator’s involvement in the scheme, educators who did the right thing should be able to move to another approved scheme and continue to provide support to the families who rely on them.”
Mr O’Sullivan stressed that family childcare remains an important option for many Australian families, particularly those living in regional, rural and remote communities.