A Melbourne childcare centre has been warned over a safety breach that potentially put children at risk of accessing a 12th floor balcony.
The Victorian Early Childhood Regulatory Authority (VECRA) issued an emergency action notice to Woodlands St Kilda Road after spotting the fault during an inspection.
VECRA said children were “at risk of serious harm” due to fencing faults that could potentially allow children to reach an outdoor balustrade on the 12th floor.
The childcare centre operates in a 13-storey building in inner-Melbourne and is authorised to have up to 140 children onsite.
VECRA said the outdoor space was enclosed by a fence that young children could get past.
The centre was also found not to have an emergency plan for evacuating 14 children aged under 2 to the ground floor.
Interim Early Childhood Regulator Adam Fennessy said the centre had put the safety of children at risk.
“Families expect their children will be safe and well at their local early childhood service,” he said.
“Woodlands St Kilda Road has put children at significant risk with unsafe fencing on a level 12 outdoor play area and inadequate emergency planning.
“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 St Kilda Rd has been ordered to close its rooftop outdoor play area and complete rectification works.
It has also been told to review its emergency and evacuation plans and make sure instructions are prominently displayed.
“Services must carefully consider and plan for what they will do in an emergency,” Mr Fennessy said.
“In those situations, every second matters and it is critical for service providers to have a clear plan in place to ensure they are protecting the children in their care.
“When the safety of children is put in danger, VECRA will not hesitate to take action against services that do the wrong thing.”
Woodlands St Kilda Road can continue to operate while the emergency action notice is in place.
VECRA said failure to comply with the notice could lead to fines of more than $20,000 for an individual or $103,000 in other cases.
Woodlands St Kilda Road has been contacted for comment.
