Emergency services were called to daycare centres across WA 178 times in the 2024 – 2025 financial year, new figures show.
And a child was locked out or inside the centre, taken away or unaccounted for 281 times.
According to the Productivity Commission’s latest report, a total of 2286 serious incidents were reported, largely relating to illness, trauma or injury, slightly up from 2154 in the previous financial year.
And from 2017 to 2018, that figure has jumped by more than 68 per cent.
Opposition Education Minister Liam Staltari said the data was deeply concerning.
“Parents expect their children to be safe and well-supervised and sadly these figures do not meet that expectation,” he said.
“The Minister has been quick to claim that the safeguards are working but when WA leads the nation on incidents tied to confirmed breaches it’s impossible to draw that conclusion.“
Mother-of-two and spokeswoman for Childcare Choice Jen Fleming said the new figures were a reminder that parents “should not be forced to override their instincts”.
“My heart goes out to all those parents who were forced to for financial reasons and who are now dealing with the trauma of realising their babies were in unsafe environments,” she said.
The new data comes after the WA Ombudsman’s annual report, released late last year, revealed childcare misconduct reports in the state had jumped by over 40 per cent.
That report showed 261 notifications were made by early education and care providers in the last financial year.
Six related to alleged sexual offences – three in the Perth metropolitan area, two in the South West and one in the Peel region.
Acting Deputy Ombudsman Alison Cameron said the increase reflected a stronger reporting culture across the childcare sector, rather than a rise in abuse.
“They’re aware of behaviours before they escalate, which is crucial. Staff are picking up some of the grooming-type behaviours earlier and have robust systems in place. That’s a positive thing.”
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