$33,000 penalty for Outside School Hours Care provider in Albany.
An approved Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) provider, Albany OSHC Pty Ltd, has been ordered to pay $33,000 by the State Administrative Tribunal (SAT) after a 5-year-old child left the service unsupervised and made their way home.
On 3 October 2025 the child was attending a vacation care session at Albany OSHC when service staff were alerted to the incident by another child who had witnessed the child jump a boundary fence.
After leaving the service, the child walked a minimum of 240 metres to get to their home. The area between the approved outdoor space and the home included a creek and a busy road with a bus route, which the child had to cross. These hazards had the potential to cause serious injury.
Fortunately, a member of the child's family was home at the time.
Staff from the approved service responsible for supervision of the child were cleaning toys at the time the child absconded. Children at the service were not wearing any identifying information, such as a vest, hat or wristband.
A Department of Communities (Communities) investigation found that the provider had breached sections 165(1) and 167(1) of the Education and Care Services National Law (WA) by failing to adequately supervise a child in their care and failing to take reasonable precautions to protect children from harm and hazards likely to cause injury. The SAT imposed penalties of $18,000 for breach of section 165(1) and $13,000 for breach of section 167(1) plus a $2,000 contribution towards legal costs.
More information on the SAT order is available on the eCourts website .
As stated by Angelo Barbaro, Executive Director, Regulation and Quality, Department of Communities:
"The consequences of an unsupervised child walking home alone, past a creek and a busy road could have been grave. The risk to the child in this situation was very high.
"Inadequate supervision within the education and care services sector is a significant concern for the Department of Communities.
"Despite the Communities' Education and Care Regulatory Unit (ECRU) providing ongoing information and support to the sector regarding the importance of active supervision, we continue to see cases where inadequate supervision has put children at risk.
"Services must ensure that their staff are prepared to actively supervise all children in their care, no matter their needs or circumstances.
"Even a momentary lapse of supervision can significantly increase the risk of harm to children.
"We urge approved providers to ensure constant, adequate supervision to keep children safe and to avoid being penalised."
