Focus on childcare bottom dollar leads to more safety breaches, report finds

·

For-profit childcare providers are disproportionately breaching safety requirements and the problem is getting worse. 

Childhood educators say poor staffing arrangements in their centres are leading to safety concerns.

Sydney-based early childhood educator Theodora Hatzihrisafis says providers put kids at risk when they squeeze their staffing budgets. 

“The quality of education and care is just not there, it ends up being crowd control,” she says.

“That puts a lot of pressure on the educators [and] that results in staff burnout.” 

She criticises the “under-roof” staffing ratio strategy she’s seen many for-profit providers use to keep their staffing budgets to a minimum. 

She says this approach leads to a chaotic environment where children are put at risk because there isn’t enough supervision. 

For-profit providers made up three-quarters of the 12,000 enforcement actions taken since 2015, according to a report from the United Workers Union.

The report found 16 per cent of for-profit centres exceeded quality standards compared with 36 per cent of not-for-profits and 40 per cent of publicly-run centres. 

Source: Sydney Morning Herald

Advertisement

Share:

KEEP UP TO DATE WITH TGH

By subscribing you accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.

Advertisement

Latest News

Athenian Association of NSW honours Greek community leaders for their achievements

The Athenian Association of New South Wales recently hosted a memorable Hellenic Achievements Awards Luncheon.

Mytilenians hold memorial service in Sydney to mark anniversary of Lesvos’ liberation

The Mytilenian community gathered on Sunday, November 10 to commemorate the 112th anniversary of Lesvos’ liberation.

The Lazy Lobster returns to Brighton-Le-Sands

Beloved seafood institution The Lazy Lobster from the 1980s is making a highly anticipated return to Brighton-Le-Sands.

Professor Nikos Papastergiadis launches ‘John Berger and Me’ at the Greek Centre

On the evening of Wednesday, November 6, a crowd of over 200 gathered at the Greek Centre in Melbourne to celebrate the launch.

St Nectarios feast day celebrated with inaugural Aegina Festival in SA

The inaugural Aegina Festival, held on Saturday, celebrated the Feast Day of Saint Nectarios at the Holy Monastery of Saint Nectarios.

You May Also Like

Greek Community of Melbourne pay tribute to language teacher Alexandros Giannadaki

The Greek Community of Melbourne has paid tribute to one of its "most beloved members" Alexandros Giannadaki, who passed away unexpectedly.

Political and community leaders bid farewell to Jack Passaris OAM

Political, multicultural and Greek community leaders bid farewell to one of Sydney’s community trailblazers Jack Passaris OAM on Friday.

Greece to speed up gas exploration to cut reliance on Russia

Greece will speed up gas exploration as it looks to cut its reliance on Russian energy, Greece's Prime Minister said on Tuesday.