An incident

You need to notify the Regulatory Authority if there is a death of a child at your service OR if there is an incident at your service before the death of the child which may have contributed to the child’s death.

For example, a child ate an unknown allergen before leaving the service.  After leaving the service, the child had an anaphylactic reaction which caused the death of the child.

Next: Death of a child

You need to notify the Regulatory Authority if a child experienced serious injury and/or trauma while being educated and cared for by your service and needed urgent medical attention, attended a hospital, or should have attended a hospital.

If emergency services attended because a child experienced a serious injury and/or trauma, you need to notify the Regulatory Authority of the serious injury/trauma, not the attendance of the emergency services. 

You may have further obligations under child protection laws. Please consider if you are required to take any further action under those laws.

Next: Serious injury and/or trauma

You need to notify the Regulatory Authority if a child experienced serious illness while being educated and cared for by your service and needed urgent medical attention, attended a hospital, or should have attended a hospital.

If emergency services attended because a child experienced a serious illness, you need to notify the Regulatory Authority of the serious illness, not the attendance of the emergency services.

Next: Serious illness

You need to notify the Regulatory Authority if emergency services (e.g. police, ambulance, fire) attended for an emergency while a child was being educated and cared for by your service. This includes attendance by emergency services during an excursion.

If you are in a multi-storey building and emergency services attend the premises of another tenant in the building, you still need to submit a notification because this impacts your service. 

 You do not need to submit a notification if emergency services visit your service to show children their truck or to explain their role to children. 

If emergency services attended because a child experienced a serious injury and/or trauma, you need to notify the Regulatory Authority of the serious injury/trauma, not the attendance of the emergency services. 

If emergency services attended because a child experienced a serious illness, you need to notify the Regulatory Authority of the serious illness, not the attendance of the emergency services.

Next: Emergency services attended

You need to notify the Regulatory Authority if a child was missing or could not be accounted for when being educated and cared for by your service.

Missing from the service:
A notification must be made if a child goes missing by leaving the education and care service premises for any length of time. 

For example, a child has left the service to go to a nearby road, shop or property. 

A child “missing” from the service could also occur during an excursion or outing. 

Not able to be accounted for:
A notification must be made if a child could not be accounted for while being educated and cared for by your service for any length of time. This includes during transportation of children and on excursions.

For example, a child could not be located by the child’s educators and was then found in another part of the service. 

For example, a child could not be located during a routine headcount.

The child may not have left the education and care service premises but could not be accounted for. For example, a child was later found in an outdoor area, an out of bounds area such as a cleaning supplies cupboard, or a staff room etc or a vehicle. 

Next: Child missing or not accounted for

You need to notify the Regulatory Authority if a child was taken or removed from the service in a way that breaches the National Regulations, including if:

• The child left the service premises with someone who did not have permission to take the child
• The child was taken on transport or on an excursion without the appropriate authorisation

A list of people who are allowed to take a child from the service is contained in regulation 99 (in WA, refer to section 165A). 

Next: Child taken or removed 

You need to notify the Regulatory Authority if a child was mistakenly locked in or out of the service premises or part of the premises.

A notification is required if a child was unknowingly locked in an area of the service and was unable to rejoin the group of their own accord or without assistance. 

For example, an educator locked the door to an outdoor area without noticing that a child had exited the room and the child was mistakenly locked out of the indoor environment. 

For example, a child entered a toilet/bathroom and an educator unknowingly locked the child in. 

For example, a child was left behind in a locked bus during an excursion. 

Next: Child locked in or out

You need to notify the Regulatory Authority if the Approved Provider reasonably believes that physical or sexual abuse has occurred or is occurring while the child is being educated and cared for by the service.

This could include an incident that occurred during an excursion, transportation to and from the service or in an area of an FDC educator’s residence that is not part of the service premises.

If you reasonably believe that a child has been physically or sexually abused while being educated and cared for, please notify your Regulatory Authority as soon as possible. 

For example, an educator reports to the Approved Provider that they witnessed an incident where another educator used unnecessary force against a child. The unnecessary force is equivalent to physical abuse and may constitute inappropriate discipline under section 166 of the National Law, and therefore needs to be notified to the Regulatory Authority.

NOTE: The focus of this regulation is about the child while being cared for by your service. Events that happen outside of your service, i.e. while the child is not in your care, are regulated by the laws of other government agencies, and you may have obligations under those other laws. 

Any allegation of physical or sexual abuse while a child is not being educated or cared for by your service does not need to be notified to your Regulatory Authority, but will need to be reported under other relevant legislation.

For example, a child told an educator that they are subject to physical abuse  at home. This does not need to be notified to the Regulatory Authority but would be reportable to other government agencies under other laws.

Next: Reasonable belief of abuse

You need to notify the Regulatory Authority if a child is alleged to have been or is being physically or sexually abused while being educated and cared for by the service.

Allegations of physical or sexual abuse of a child by any person (including but not limited to a staff member, contractor, educator, visitor, volunteer, parent, resident, other adult or child) at the service need to be reported.  A perpetrator of physical abuse may be an adult, adolescent or another child.

If there is an allegation of physical or sexual abuse while a child is being educated and cared for, please notify your Regulatory Authority as soon as possible.

If a complaint has been made alleging physical or sexual abuse of a child and it has been notified to the Regulatory Authority under section 174(2)(b), then this allegation does not have to be notified a second time under regulation 175(2)(e).

For contact details of child protection agencies, please refer to https://aifs.gov.au/resources/resource-sheets/reporting-child-abuse-and-neglect

Next: Allegation of abuse
 

You need to notify the Regulatory Authority if there is a circumstance at the service that poses a risk to the health, safety or wellbeing of children attending the service.

This notification requirement is separate from the requirement to notify a ‘serious incident’ involving a particular child.

These circumstances are more about situations that have happened to, or impacted on, the operation of the service.

Examples of circumstances that need to be notified:

• Broken window glass that affects the use of a room or another part of the service
• A broken fence which affects the use of the outdoor space
• Smoke from a nearby bushfire that means the service cannot use the outdoor space
• Broken down air conditioning, no access to electricity or no running water at the service
• Harmful behaviour of a child that poses a risk to other people while being educated and cared for by the service 
• There is land subsidence at the property neighbouring the service. You may be able to continue to operate the service if experts decide that the service is structurally safe, but a large hole in the neighbouring property could potentially pose a risk to the health, safety and wellbeing of children.

Next: Risk to children's safety or wellbeing

You need to notify the Regulatory Authority if your service is required to close or reduce numbers of children due to an incident.

Service closure: 
You need to notify the Regulatory Authority if your service has closed or reduced its numbers for a period of time due to an incident at the service.

A closure is when your service cannot be operated due to an incident occurring at your service for a period of time. 

For example, the local area experiences flash flooding and over the weekend your service was completely flooded and is now unsafe to operate. You have to notify this to the Regulatory Authority because your service cannot safely operate. 

Reduction in numbers: 
A reduction in numbers means your service is operating at a reduced capacity due to an incident at your service. 

For example, your service has had a burst water pipe in one room of the service. The flooding was isolated to that room only and a temporary repair has been made to the water pipe. The rest of the service can continue to operate. Due to restricted available space, you have to reduce your numbers and you must notify the Regulatory Authority of the change to service provision.

For example, a Family Day Care educator cannot work for 5 days because of an illness. This reduces the capacity of the service to provide education and care to children. Because there is a reduction in the number of children who attend the service, you have to notify the Regulatory Authority.

Next: Service closure or reduced numbers

Please contact your Regulatory Authority.

Contact details are available here: https://www.acecqa.gov.au/help/contact-your-regulatory-authority