State regulator cancels registration of one provider in four years

ABC NEWS (Australia)

South Australia’s childcare regulator has cancelled the registration of just one provider in almost four years. Data given to the ABC under freedom of information show the education standards board didn't prosecute any childcare provider between the start of 2020 and near the end of 2024.

Transcript

00:00The figures showed it was very rare for South Australia's independent childcare regulator

00:07to take serious action against providers caught doing the wrong thing. Not a single prosecution

00:14was launched by the Education Standards Board between January 2020 and October 2024. During

00:21that time, the Board cancelled the registration of just one provider and another ten were hit

00:26with suspensions. Those figures are in contrast to nearly 10,000 incidents or complaints that were

00:32reported to the Board and resulted in no action. The Education Minister here in South Australia,

00:38Blair Boyer, says the vast majority of those complaints would have been appropriately

00:43handled. Childcare centres are required to report incidents like falls to the regulator and in many

00:49cases no further action is needed. But he's acknowledged that there were occasions during

00:54that nearly five-year period where the Education Standards Board fell short.

00:58In some cases we had a regulator that was badly under-resourced and wasn't prepared to take

01:03action. That's no longer the case and we're seeing this really big uptick now in compliance action.

01:08The Minister expects more checks will mean more child care centres will face serious penalties in

01:14the years to come. The long-term hope is that the numbers will eventually plateau,

01:18then decrease as the culture within the child care sector changes.

01:24He says,

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