The Andrews Labor Government has cracked down on more than 60 dodgy childcare providers over the past year for failing to provide the high quality education and care Victorian kids deserve.
The crackdown has seen more than 1,200 investigations conducted into long day care, family day care, outside school hours care and kindergarten services in 2017.
The investigations for alleged breaches of the Education and Care Services National Law Act 2010 resulted in:
- The cancellation of four, and suspension of one, service approvals
- The serving of 22 compliance notices regarding inadequate supervision, protecting children from harm and hazards, and misleading parents about service ratings
- Additional conditions being applied on 20 providers, including requiring staff to take further training and reducing the number of children allowed to enrol at a service
- Prohibition notices being issued to 16 people to stop them from working in education and care services
Seventy-nine per cent of compliance actions involved family day care and long day care. Kindergartens were the subject of compliance orders only twice in 2017.
Minister for Families and Children Jenny Mikakos urged parents to be better informed about the quality of education and care their children receive by accessing startingblocks.gov.au.
Families who have concerns about their child's provider can report them on 1300 307 415. Enforcement actions are available at education.vic.gov.au/childhood.
Quotes attributable to Minister for Families and Children Jenny Mikakos
“Quality education and care is what every young child deserves – we’re cracking down on those dodgy providers who fall short.”
“The vast majority of our early childhood services do a fantastic job, but we want parents to rest assured action is taken if providers do the wrong thing.”
Reviewed 19 August 2020