In the case of CEO of Department of Communities and Learnaversity Pty Ltd t/as Garfields Learnaversity an order was made by the WA State Administrative Tribunal which gave effect to the terms of settlement in relation to a matter brought before the Tribunal by the WA Regulator (Department of Communities). In this case a five-year old child was left on a bus outside the approved providers service, Garfields Learnaversity. The child was found by another parent when they attended the service to collect their child. The child was left alone and unsupervised on the bus for 31 minutes.
The approved provider was ordered to pay $15,000 for contravening Section 165(1), National Law, and $7,500 for contravening section 167(1). In addition, it was also found that the service did not meet minimum staffing requirements and that the provider failed to notify the Department that the incident had occurred. As such the approved provider was ordered to pay $2,500 for contravening section 169(2), and $4,000 for their failure to notify the Regulatory Authority that a serious incident had occurred at the service within the required time frame (section 174(2)(a)). They were also ordered to pay $2000 towards the Department's legal costs. The Department also issued a media release.
In Western Australia, uniquely, such matters as this are generally heard as disciplinary matters under the National Law (WA), see the article by David Oliver in The Sector that explains the process in detail.
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