퍼스 학부모들, '벌금 이력 있는' 보육업체 고용 계획에 맞서 변화 촉구

Parents at a primary school in Perth’s north who lobbied to stop the appointment of a new childcare provider want the education department to do more to vet companies for breaches. 

Parents at a primary school in Perth’s northern suburbs who successfully lobbied to stop the appointment of a new childcare provider with a “longstanding record of noncompliance issues” want the state’s education department to do more to vet companies’ history of breaches.

Tuart Hill Primary School recently advised parents its current onsite provider would change to Junior Adventures Group, which is linked to OSHClub – one of Australia’s largest providers of before-and-after-school care.

But parents were quick to point to OSHClub’s history of fines, including a recent $33,000 penalty handed down by WA’s State Administrative Tribunal in February after failing to notice a five-year-old boy living with autism had gone missing from a school in Perth’s south in 2025.

An OSHClub spokesperson said the company had conducted a thorough investigation following that incident, including site risk assessments, and an internal review of regulatory reporting processes.

“Prompt action is taken as required, and recent changes have included internal reporting escalation timelines and additional staff training,” they said.

However, that was not the company’s first infraction, with similar cases across the company’s WA operations including a $22,000 fine in 2024 and a $20,000 fine in 2023.

Multiple compliance notices have also been handed out to OSHClub via the WA Education and Care Regulatory Unit, including several from December 2025 relating to inadequate supervision.

Tuart Hill Primary School parent Isobel Wallace said the decision to change providers had been made following an expression of interest process in October 2025, but was only announced to the school community within the last two months.

In that time, Wallace and nearly 60 other parents banded together to push for the school and WA Education Department to retract the decision, after being told the change had been made to save the school money.

“Parents were outraged that the school board would remove current provider Mulberry Tree in order for the school to make financial gains from the new provider who has a longstanding record of noncompliance issues,” she said.

“This decision was made without informing or consulting parents who use the service. The school is right next to a man road, it’s concerning that our children’s safety could be compromised in that way.”

Another school parent, Dan Whitehead, said they had been invited to a meeting with a representative from OSHClub, who he claimed had “tried to shut us down” when concerns were raised.

“We asked for assurance, and it would have been a perfect opportunity for them to take accountability for past mistakes and reassure us there had been changes made, but they made no efforts to do so,” he said.

“That’s when we as parents decided to push the fight further. I have a six-year-old daughter, my one job in life is to keep her safe.”

After weeks of pushback, Wallace said parents were told their original provider would stay on at the school for the next six years after the Regulatory Unit ruled OSHClub could not operate at the site.

“Without ECRU stepping in, the Department had every intention of proceeding with OSHClub as the provider while being aware of their history,” Wallace said.

But the OSHClub spokesperson said the company had declined the contract at Tuart Hill “once it was clear that families had a strong existing relationship with their current provider”.

The spokesperson said OSHClub was committed to “providing a safe, supportive and caring environment for children in our care and their families”.

“OSHClub will always put the wellbeing of children and families first. OSHClub assesses all contracts based on school community and family alignment, qualified workforce availability, and appropriate safe operating spaces,” they said.

After attending a meeting at the department’s regional office at the beginning of April, Wallace said she was told requests to implement a policy to include child safety questions in future expression of interest processes would involve “too much red tape”.

“Department representatives … repeatedly stated that it is not the Department of Education’s responsibility to ask about breaches of the Education and Care Services National Law (WA) Act, instead directing accountability to [the Education and Care Regulatory Unit],” she said.

“However, ECRU becomes involved only after contractual agreements between the Department and service providers have already been signed.

“This means the Department has full capacity to implement child safety requirements at the procurement stage but is choosing not to.”

Parents were advised to set a reminder in their phones to raise the issue again with the school principal in six years’ time when the next EOI cycle would begin.

“We were also told that the Department will not make EOI processes public and, due to recent community backlash, intends to reduce the notice period provided to families when changing service providers,” Wallace said.

“This approach prioritises minimising pressure on staff rather than acknowledging the significant stress these decisions have placed on children and the wider school community.”

A state government spokesperson said Tuart Hill Primary School followed the department’s guidelines recommending schools undertake an expression of interest process to “test the market and ensure value for money and quality service”.

“Following the outcome of the EOI process, the selected service provider must submit a request for service approval application to the Department of Communities’ Education and Care Regulatory Unit,” they said.

“The current provider, Mulberry Tree, will continue operating at the primary school.”

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