See text below.
EXCERPTS
Victoria's system for licensing and monitoring child-care centres has come under scrutiny in a landmark legal challenge mounted by ABC Learning.
The nation's largest child-care provider appeared in the Supreme Court yesterday in a bid to stop Victorian authorities from seeking details and documents relating to alleged breaches of standards at two of its centres.
If ABC succeeds, the State Government may have to change its method of investigating alleged breaches of child-care standards. At the heart of the legal action are ongoing investigations by the Department of Human Services into incidents in 2004 and 2005 at ABC-owned centres in East Melbourne and Bendigo.
ABC's pursuit of the case has sparked concern among child-care activists.
"This is an extraordinary action," said Lynne Wannan, convener of the National Association of Community Based Children's Services. "Once there has been some mishap at a child-care centre, you can't imagine a licensing authority not being allowed to go and investigate."
A spokesman for ABC Learning defended the action, saying the case tested whether the department had acted within the law, "to ensure that any investigation is conducted fairly".
Yesterday's argument included discussions about the extent of the department's power to probe alleged breaches, including who its child-care centre investigators could talk to.
…
- reprinted from The Age