A family centre in Western Australia's Pilbara region has been fined after a barefoot child, who was meant to be in its care, was left alone outside on an almost 30-degrees Celsius day.
The State Administrative Tribunal heard that in August last year, the four-year-old attended Pilbara Preparatory in Karratha along with 22 other children, with five educators supervising.
Just before midday, two WA police officers on patrol saw the child outside the centre, appearing to be talking to children inside through the perimeter fence.
The officers continued on their patrol, but later stopped the child about 170 metres from the facility after she started running alone alongside one of the main roads in Karratha.
The child was not wearing shoes on a day that reached 29.7C.
After the girl told police she was going home, they contacted her father, who said she was meant to be at the centre.
The officers returned the four-year-old to Pilbara Preparatory, where the educator reportedly said she was "unaware that the child had left the service".
The tribunal heard no staff members had seen the child leave the centre.
At the time the child left Pilbara Preparatory that day, the facility was operating at the minimum educators-to-children level permitted under federal law.
Pilbara Preparatory has been ordered to pay the WA's Department of Communities a penalty of $13,000, in addition to $1,500 in legal costs.
New measures in place
Pilbara Preparatory had a supervision policy at the time of the incident but the tribunal heard most of the centre's educators were not aware what it was.
The centre also had a risk assessment for the outdoor area and required a headcount every 30 minutes
The assessment did not mention keeping an eye on children near the premises' perimeter.
Pilbara Preparatory submitted to the tribunal that it has since updated its safety procedures.
Supervision maps have been developed for the outdoor area, showing the positioning of educators near the boundary of the premises.
It said policies and procedures have also been updated to ensure they were "current, compliant and centre specific".
Since the incident, all staff have completed external training in active supervision and monitoring, in addition to quizzing them on policies and procedures.
Other measures that have been implemented included regular internal audits, daily indoor and outdoor checklists, and teaching children about the dangers associated with running away from the premises.
