Woodlands St Kilda Road, a Melbourne childcare centre operating across three upper levels of a 13-storey building, faces 15 charges from the Victorian Early Childhood Regulatory Authority following alleged incidents of serious supervision and safety breaches.
According to the authority, children aged between 22 months and five years were left unsupervised, putting them at risk of harm. One alleged incident involved a young child exiting the centre via a goods lift. The child reportedly traveled several floors to the building's loading dock and then wandered out to the building's forecourt, which fronts the busy St Kilda Road. A worker from another business in the building located the child and returned them to the centre.
In a separate alleged incident, another child reportedly entered the same lift unsupervised from the centre's rooftop playground and traveled to another floor, where they were found by Woodlands administrative staff. A third alleged incident saw a child become trapped in a male staff bathroom for 30 minutes after wandering in unnoticed before the door closed, crying on the floor until staff found them.
If found guilty of all charges, Woodlands St Kilda could face fines up to $1.4 million.
"These are serious charges against Woodlands St Kilda," said Early Childhood Regulator Wendy Steendam. "We allege they have failed in their fundamental obligation to keep children safe and away from potential harms - requirements that are especially critical in multi-storey buildings with lifts and multiple tenants."
The centre, which is licensed to care for 140 children, was previously issued with an emergency action notice in June. Compliance officers on an unannounced visit found that children could potentially access the edge of the level 12 roof. At the time, interim regulator Adam Fennessy stated, "Had any child gone through, over or under the fence on the 12th floor, the consequences for them could have been catastrophic - it is unacceptable that the service was putting children at risk."
Woodlands Childcare and Education operates eight centres across Melbourne, with plans to open seven more locations. The centre has been contacted for comment.