A childcare centre in western Sydney with a documented history of safety and quality failures spanning more than a decade has been permanently shut down by authorities. This marks the first closure under newly strengthened regulatory powers designed to crack down on underperforming early learning services.
A Long History of Non-Compliance
Fun2Learn childcare centre in Rosehill ceased operations on Friday after regulators determined it posed an ongoing risk to children. The decision followed more than 12 years of consistent failure to meet national quality and safety standards.
During that period, authorities conducted 18 visits to the centre and offered specialist support, but it never achieved the minimum requirements for supervision or incident management. Documented breaches over the years included:
- Emergency exits being padlocked shut.
- Inadequate planning for children with severe, life-threatening allergies.
- Unlabelled chemicals stored in children's bathrooms.
- In one instance, an unenrolled child was left at the service for several hours without staff having access to their medical history.
Regulators Take a Harder Line
The closure comes amid a tougher enforcement regime introduced after multiple scandals exposed systemic problems across the childcare sector. Under the reforms, centres with persistently poor ratings that fail to show improvement can now be stripped of their approval to operate.
Acting NSW Early Learning Commissioner, Daryl Currie, stated the centre had been given extensive opportunities to lift its standards but consistently failed to do so. "We will not hesitate to take action against providers who place children at risk by consistently failing to address safety and quality concerns, even where a serious child safety incident has not yet occurred," Currie said.
He added that the commission had no confidence the provider could make the necessary changes to deliver the expected level of early childhood education and care.
Owner 'Devastated' by Decision
Centre owner and director, Lisa Thai, told the Sydney Morning Herald she was devastated by the closure and had been working with the department to improve the service. She questioned why Fun2Learn was targeted ahead of other centres where serious harm had occurred.
"When I look at my centre’s history, I totally understand the department’s perspective," Thai said, while maintaining all previous breaches had been addressed. She described the chemical storage issue as a "one-off" from 2018 and said the unenrolled child incident stemmed from a language misunderstanding.
"There are centres which have even more risky compliance, and they seem to be fine," she added.
The shutdown occurs as hundreds of childcare centres across NSW remain under scrutiny for failing to meet basic safety and quality standards. More regulatory decisions are expected in the coming weeks and months as the crackdown continues.
