A daycare provider on the south coast of WA has been fined $ 12,000 for an incident in which a four-year-old boy was left on a bus.
Key points:
- An investigation found that the 4-year-old girl was locked in the bus before being found by chance.
- The Department of Communities says it is important for the centers to follow the procedure
- It comes after a young Queensland boy was left on a bus for six hours
The WA Department of Communities found that an Esperance girl was picked up from an elementary school and left locked up on the bus after she arrived at Esperance Outside School Hours Care on July 28 last year.
The department said the boy was found shortly afterwards by chance and not as a result of service formalities.
The boy was alone on the bus for 4-5 minutes.
The department said it had initiated disciplinary action on 12 occasions in WA where children had been dropped off on buses since 2016.
Phil Payne, executive director of regulation and quality for the Department of Communities, said it was a worrying case.
“It is unacceptable that, despite notifications and warnings about the dangers of leaving children unattended in unattended vehicles, it still occurs,” Payne said.
It comes after a young Queensland boy was in critical condition after being left on a daycare bus for six hours in May.
Payne said complying with guidelines, such as having two educators present when children disembarked vehicles, would help prevent further incidents.
“As we have seen in other states, a child who is left unattended in a vehicle, even for a short period of time, can have tragic consequences,” he said.
Esperance Outside School Hours Care has been contacted for comment.