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More than six years after the death of seven-month-old Jack Loh at a family day care centre in NSW, his parents say the system that failed him is still putting children's lives at risk.
"It is shocking and offensive to know that through all the pain and suffering that has been endured, reports written and charges laid, children are still falling prey," the family told ABC Investigations.
"Jack was a beautiful boy, our first child, a window into the future, and we loved him so dearly.
"On the 4th of March 2019, that future was cut short when his educator decided to put him to bed, face down, wrapped, wearing a bib, in a basket too small for his body.
"On a hot day in an unventilated room, he cried out, but she did not go in.
"She left him unsupervised for an extended period, and it was during this time that he died."
An inquest in December 2021 found his death was caused by an undiagnosed heart condition and unsafe sleeping conditions.
The coroner also noted that the service's private financial arrangements created incentives for educators to take on extra children, in breach of child-to-educator ratios.
"It reflects a practice of a provider prioritising profit over quality of care," the coroner said.
This week, a NSW parliamentary inquiry into childcare, chaired by Greens MP Abigail Boyd, will begin public hearings into systemic risks in the childcare sector, including the adequacy of regulation and enforcement.
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Home-based model creates 'vulnerability'
For Jack's parents, the scrutiny is long overdue.
His case exposed the dark underbelly of family day care services, where educators operate in their own homes, with minimal oversight.
Family day care makes up just 5 per cent of Australia's early childhood education and care system, but insiders, experts, and regulatory documents paint a picture of a sector beset by troubling incidents and structural risk.
It has been linked to child deaths, hygiene breaches, unqualified staff, and childcare subsidy fraud, including providers who claimed subsidies for non-existent children.
In February this year, a child died at a family day care service in Skye in south-east Melbourne.
Victoria's early childhood watchdog, the Quality and Assessment and Regulation Division (QARD), said as a precaution, it issued an Emergency Action Notice to Bambini Child Care requiring the service to complete sleep and rest risk assessments, check compliance with sleeping arrangements, and stop providing family day care until deemed compliant.
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Knives and toxic chemicals left within reach of children
At Great Western Family Day Care, also in NSW, regulatory documents reveal a staggering 269 breaches between February 2018 and July 2023.
Some of the more shocking findings were of children being left unsupervised, knives and pesticides being left within reach, a bucket of toxic cleaning fluid being accessible to children, plastic bags within reach of toddlers, expired first aid supplies, and missing or inadequate medical plans for children with allergies.
Inspectors also documented serious and repeated violations of safe sleep practices.
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"Until the authorities wake up and act — so long as that balance is unchanged, we are simply playing the odds, waiting for the next casualty of a broken system."