An inquiry has heard of a series of safety breaches at childcare provider Little Zacks, children being fed known allergens and being physically restrained by educators.

An inquiry into Little Zacks childcare centres has revealed a pattern of safety breaches, including incidents where a child suffered anaphylactic shock after being fed a known allergen, children fell from cots, and a child was found unsupervised in a washing machine. Despite these incidents, Little Zacks received $2.5 million in state grants in the previous financial year. Management stated that all issues raised have been addressed according to regulatory directions and expressed support for the inquiry’s focus on safety standards.

The inquiry also found that 425 childcare services across the state are failing to meet quality standards, with around 100 repeatedly rated as 'Working Towards' the required benchmark. Centres that do not improve risk losing government funding. Submissions from educators described severe workplace stress, inadequate supervision, and concerning practices such as using food as punishment. Calls have been made for a fundamental review of the early childhood education sector.

Inquiry reveals safety breaches at Little Zacks childcare centres

An education provider for more than 8,000 children, an inquiry has heard of a concerning pattern of breaches at Little Zacks centres. A child was fed a known allergen and ended up having an anaphylactic shock. Three cases of children falling out of their cots. One child was unaccounted for through lack of supervision and was found in a washing machine. Educators forcibly restricting children until being told to stop by other educators. Despite this, Little Zacks received $2.5 million in state grants in the 2023 financial year. How can we have public money going out to these private operators who can't even keep centres at the standard required? Little Zacks management says these incidents should never have happened to any child in our care. Adding, all matters raised by the inquiry have been addressed in line with regulator directions. From today, underperforming centres are on notice. Across the state, 425 services are failing to meet quality standards. Around 100 of them have received the Working Towards rating three times. Unless they improve, funding will be cut. No Commonwealth or state funding will be given to these centres. Little Zacks also stated they fully support the inquiry's focus on the highest safety standards. The inquiry have now inundated with submissions from struggling educators. What they're seeing on the ground is really quite horrifying and wearing them down. Some describing food being used as punishment and a severe lack of supervision. Many saying educators are overworked, underpaid and burnt out. And the demands placed on them have reached an unsustainable level. One writing, I will never work in the early childhood industry ever again. Another revealing, I saw a woman miscarrying her first child at work. She was given a child's nappy and told to continue working as there was no one to replace her. We really want a fundamental review of the whole early childhood sector. I think the sector has been in crisis for some years. Lachlan Kennedy, 10 News.

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Washington

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Brussels

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