Nine childcare services are at risk of having their approval to receive taxpayer funded support suspended or revoked for failing to improve child health and safety standards by a federal deadline.
The childcare services are among 30 that were notified last year to improve by February after falling short of the minimum National Quality Standard for an extended period of time.
Nineteen have since met the standard, one has closed permanently and another is yet to be assessed by its state regulator.
Education Minister Jason Clare said the nine are currently in talks with the Department of Education about “next steps” which could include suspending or revoking approval to receive the Child Care Subsidy.
The childcare services have not been named. “The names of the services will only be released if the government takes action to reduce their funding support at which point the services are required to notify parents,” Clare said.
The compliance push comes after a year of increased focus on the childcare industry following reports of abuse and serious safety issues, greater powers to step in if standards are not being met.
National register and training come into force
From Friday, the national early childhood worker register and child safety training requirements also come into force, introducing further changes to the industry.
Services will have four weeks to load workforce data, then must do so within 14 days of staff changes with the failure to report data potentially resulting in fines of up to $34,200.
The training, which has been designed by the Australian Centre for Child Protection, must be undertaken by existing staff within six months, while new staff must complete the training within 14 days of commencing.
Also Read: Hillary Clinton says Bill Clinton had no knowledge of Epstein crimes
More than 100,000 staff have already signed up with centres able to close from 5pm on several days of the year to conduct training, provided families are given notice.
Meanwhile, state and territory education ministers have agreed to close loopholes in staffing ratios by stripping “across the service” options, in a bid to ensure better supervision.
