Tougher penalties to ensure safer, higher quality childcare.

“This Government is taking action for Victorian families and while the majority of children’s services are doing the right thing, we want to toughen the penalties for the operators who are letting down Victoria’s children and their parents,”

“When a parent leaves a child in some form of care they rightly expect that the service will provide a safe environment. Parents place a huge amount of trust in childcare operators and these new laws would ensure that the few operators who breach that trust are properly dealt with.

“The existing fine will be more than doubled from $5666 to a maximum of $13,600 for children’s services which fail to supervise and protect children adequately or subject them to unreasonable and unjust discipline which affects their emotional wellbeing.

“Inspectors’ powers will be strengthened with new fines of up to $13,600 for services which prevent them from investigating complaints by parents and others.

“Inspectors will also be able to direct proprietors to take immediate action to remove or reduce risks to children. Proprietors who refuse can be hit with a $13,600 fine.

“Operators that set up unlicensed children’s services will face fines of up to $27,000 under the tough new measures.”

“All of these penalties will come into force once the Bill is passed to ensure those services that place children’s welfare at risk will face the appropriate sanctions as soon as possible.”

Early Childhood Development Minister Maxine Morand said the new laws would make childcare safer and more rewarding for Victorian children.

“Kindergarten and childcare centres are a vital part of giving children the best possible start in life and these amendments will give parents greater confidence when choosing a service that supports learning and development for their child,” Ms Morand said.

“A child’s development opportunity is vitally important and that is why the penalty for not providing proper programs to children which enhance their development is also being increased.”

The Bill also contains amendments to regulate family day care and outside school-hours care, reduce red tape for all operators, and allow parents to check the compliance record of all children’s services online.

“This information will help parents to make informed choices about the best child care for their child,” Ms Morand said.

These provisions will come into effect in May next year when the new Children’s Services Regulations take force.

In the lead-up to the new regulations, a comprehensive information and training program will inform services of their rights and responsibilities.

“This Bill, which is the result of extensive sector and community consultation, will bring improvements to children’s services that will benefit Victoria’s children for years to come,” Ms Morand said.

Victoria has the most rigorous monitoring of children’s services in Australia, with over 3500 unannounced inspections last year.