Adelaide childcare centre closes over safety and hygiene breaches, leaving families in limbo

ABC NEWS (Australia)

A childcare centre in Adelaide’s northern suburbs has been forced to close due to safety and hygiene breaches. The centre has 14 days to fix the issues, leaving families in limbo.

Transcript

00:00A usually lively play space, now an empty yard.

00:07The Genius Childcare Centre on Prospect Road at Blair Athol was issued with an emergency

00:12action notice on the 31st of January.

00:15There were concerns that were raised around fencing, around the cleanliness of the premises,

00:21around some flooring and a few other issues as well, pretty serious issues.

00:25The state's independent regulator, the Education Standards Board, ordered the centre to close

00:31until the breaches are rectified.

00:33It was given 14 days to do so.

00:36I have two kids that were attending, I've now pulled them out.

00:40A lot of the parents have had concerns since the takeover and staff members have left and

00:45definitely what's being raised is the concern with the hygiene and the smoke alarms and

00:50things.

00:51That's been an ongoing issue for months.

00:53In a statement, Genius Childcare told the ABC it had closed temporarily due to necessary

00:58maintenance to ensure a safe and high quality environment.

01:03It says fees won't be charged while it's closed.

01:06The ABC has confirmed the centre cannot reopen unless and until it gets approval from the

01:12regulator.

01:13The regulator also has the power to impose conditions on the centre's operations or to

01:18suspend or shut down its services completely.

01:22The same company has also phased disciplinary action into state, including at a Queensland centre.

01:29This is currently the only childcare centre that Genius is operating in South Australia.

01:34But the company is seeking licences to open five other centres across the state, which

01:40it's advertising on its website as opening soon.

01:43The Education Minister says the regulator is yet to provide approval for those centres.

01:49Situations that they might have had at their Blair Athol centre or interstate will be things

01:54that can be considered by our regulator here if and when they have to make a decision about

01:59permitting this provider to open more services in South Australia.

02:02So that is a very stringent test.

02:04Another week remains on the 14-day deadline.

02:08In the meantime, families continue to play the waiting game.

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