The federal government has released the names of 29 childcare centres that failed to meet national quality and safety standards, with 10 of them located in the Illawarra region of New South Wales. The centres were issued compliance actions last week by the federal education department, marking the first such warnings under new legislation passed last month that allows the government to strip funding from non-compliant centres.
The National Quality Standards (NQS) cover health, safety, and education for children in childcare centres, family day care, outside school hours care, preschool, and kindergarten. The centres named had failed to meet these standards for at least seven years and were required to inform parents about the compliance action by this week.
Among the Illawarra centres issued notices are Newton Family Day Care and Little Oz Kids Family Day Care Pty Ltd in Oakhurst. Four childcare centres in the region received compliance actions, while Cooinda Early Learning Centre OOSH, which provides after-school care, was also asked to improve its standards.
Western Australia had the highest number of centres warned, with 11. Queensland had five centres on the list, including Cairns Regional Family Day Care, Babyco Family Day Care, and Moonlight Family Day Care Services. No large for-profit childcare companies have been named so far.
Education Minister Jason Clare stated that the centres have six months to improve or face further consequences, including funding cuts or suspension of Child Care Subsidy approval. Early Childhood Education Minister Jess Walsh emphasized that the National Quality Standards are not optional and that all services must comply.
