Charges laid against Woodlands St Kilda for alleged serious supervision and safety breaches

The Victorian Early Childhood Regulatory Authority (VECRA) has charged Woodlands St Kilda Pty Ltd over multiple alleged breaches at a childcare centre that put the safety of children in their care at risk. The service is in a multi-storey building on St Kilda Road.

Woodlands St Kilda has been charged with 15 offences relating to 3 incidents. It is alleged that children aged between 22 months and 5 years were left unsupervised and exposed to risk of injury and harm. This includes an incident where a child exited the service and made his way to the building’s forecourt, fronting busy St Kilda Road.

When services are in multi-storey buildings, there are risks to children’s safety that operators must identify and address. These buildings are often in busy urban areas and have lifts, stairwells and other tenants that present risks.

1. Alleged incident 1 – a young child left the service unsupervised via a goods lift. The child went to the tower’s loading dock and then left the building via the ground floor into the building’s forecourt, fronting St Kilda Road. This is a busy four-lane road that carries cars, trams and bicycles in and out of Melbourne’s CBD. The child was then found by an employee of an unrelated business inside the building, who returned the child to Woodlands St Kilda.
2. Alleged incident 2 – a child left the rooftop playground of the service unsupervised, entered a lift and travelled to another floor of the building. They were found by administrative staff of Woodlands St Kilda.
3. Alleged incident 3 – a child wandered unsupervised and unobserved into a male staff bathroom of the service. The bathroom door closed behind the child, who was unable to get out. The child was found crying on the floor in the bathroom by Woodlands St Kilda staff approximately 30 minutes later.

All early childhood services are required by law to follow clear and specific standards when it comes to safety and quality. This includes strict requirements about adequate and active supervision, protection of children from hazards and harm, and the safety of the service premises.

Approved providers must ensure staff maintain active supervision, especially during arrival, departure, and when moving between activities and different areas of a service.

Educator-to-child ratios must be maintained and systems must be in place, such as regular headcounts and roll calls, to ensure educators anticipate and respond to risks and issues as they arise.

As part of this, supervision procedures should be reviewed and updated regularly. Routine risk assessments and safety audits should also be in place and regularly reviewed to ensure that the environment is adapted and safe according to the individual development needs of children.

Approved providers in multi-storey buildings are expected to maintain a higher level of vigilance, given the increased risk.

If proven guilty of all charges, Woodlands St Kilda could face a maximum aggregate penalty of up to $1.394 million.

Woodlands St Kilda operates across 3 floors of a 13-storey office building on St Kilda Road in Melbourne, including a rooftop playground. It has a licenced capacity of 140 children.

Quotes attributable to Early Childhood Regulator Wendy Steendam:

“VECRA won’t hesitate to take the strongest action when early childhood services put the safety, rights and best interests of children at risk.”

“These are serious charges against Woodlands St Kilda. We allege they have failed in their fundamental obligation to keep children safe and away from potential harms – requirements that are especially critical in multi-storey buildings with lifts and multiple tenants.”

“Proactive and well-planned supervision by trained staff is critical for children's safety and protection from harm or hazards. This requires vigilance, good service design, appropriate rostering decisions and good communication between staff.”

"As these matters are now before the court, we are unable to offer further comment at this time."

Further background

In relation to all 3 incidents, Woodlands St Kilda has been charged with multiple offences under the Education and Care Services National Law.

This includes offences under:

• Section 165(1), relating to adequate supervision of children
• Section 167(1), relating to protecting children from harms and hazards
• Section 51(8), relating to the requirement that services ensure the safety, health and wellbeing of children in their care
• Regulation 170(1), relating to policies and procedures on child safety, incidents and operating in multi-storey buildings.

In relation to incidents 1 and 2, Woodlands St Kilda has also been charged under:

• Regulation 99, relating to supervision and authorisations for children to leave service premises.

In relation to incident 3, Woodlands St Kilda has also been charged under:

• Section 51(8), relating to operating the service in compliance with the Child Safe Standards.

Media contact: vecra.media@education.vic.gov.au