Two WA Childcare Providers Fined After Vulnerable Children Wander Off Unnoticed

Introduction
Two Western Australian out-of-school-hours care providers have been fined after separate incidents in which vulnerable children left care unnoticed, raising concerns about supervision, staffing ratios and reporting obligations. One incident involved a neurodivergent five-year-old at a Perth primary school, while another involved a nine-year-old requiring one-on-one supervision at an Albany service.

Details of the Incidents
In the first incident, a five-year-old neurodivergent boy enrolled at OSHClub at Samson Primary School near Fremantle walked away from educators after being taken to the school oval following classes in February 2025. The child sat on the other side of the oval with children not from the service and remained there for about 10 minutes before another parent took him to the school office and his parents were contacted.

The State Administrative Tribunal found the incident occurred on a Thursday but the provider did not notify the regulator until the following Monday, outside the required 24-hour notification timeframe. The tribunal also found OSHClub failed to have a compliant staff record for an agency educator. OSHClub was ordered to pay $35,000 in fines and costs.

In a separate incident in January 2025, a nine-year-old boy known as T for legal reasons left St Joe’s The Village out-of-school-hours care in Albany after unlatching a pool-style gate and walking out unnoticed. Staff only realised he was missing during a roll call more than 15 minutes later, with the child missing for about 17 minutes before being sighted near a nearby playground. The boy returned around half an hour after leaving. The service was fined $8,000 in penalties, with additional costs ordered.

Regulatory Findings
The tribunal found significant supervision and staffing failures in the Albany case, including that minimum child ratio requirements were not met. At the time, 36 children were reportedly supervised by three staff plus one worker in the kitchen.

The tribunal also found the service failed to prepare an adequate medical and risk management plan for the child, despite being informed he had a serious medical condition requiring one-on-one supervision.

Department of Communities executive director Angelo Barbaro said it was fortunate the child was found unharmed:
“While it’s incredibly fortunate the child was found unharmed, services must prevent these types of incidents by adequately supervising all children in their care.”

Company Responses
OSHClub WA general manager Natasha Browne said the provider’s policies “regrettably fell short”:
“OSHClub accepts full responsibility for this incident … and we are sincerely sorry.”

She noted the child was not harmed and remained on school grounds.

In Albany, provider Harpreet Dhaliwal told the ABC the operational pressures that day did not excuse the lapse in supervision. The tribunal noted the service had since introduced changes including three self-closing gates, sign-in and sign-out requirements, more frequent headcounts and a medical risk register to ensure educators are aware of children needing specific supervision.

Conclusion
The two cases highlight the high stakes of supervision failures in out-of-school-hours care environments, particularly for neurodivergent children and those requiring one-on-one support. Regulators have warned providers that staffing ratios, reporting obligations and risk management plans must be treated as non-negotiable safeguards, not administrative burdens.