One dead, 800 missing: The truth about NSW childcare revealed

One child died, almost 800 were temporarily lost and 7674 suffered a serious injury, trauma or illness at NSW childcare centres last financial year, as centres increasingly sidestep staff ratio requirements.

New data released by the Productivity Commission has shed light on the besieged sector, revealing the number of serious incidents in NSW continued to increase year-on-year.

There were 9430 serious incidents at early childhood education and care services in NSW in 2024-25, a rate of 154 incidents reported per 100 centres.

According to the latest data, 792 children were reported as “unaccounted for”, “locked in or out,” or “taken away” while in care, and emergency services were called to centres 963 times.

The childcare sector is facing a reckoning after a slew of scandals, which included child sexual abuse at centres, a child being used as a mop, and another childcare centre sending a toddler home with the wrong grandparent.

A parliamentary inquiry and multiple media investigations last year exposed the sector’s lack of transparency, including high-profile safety incidents that happened without parents’ knowledge.

The new data shows NSW’s use of staffing waivers has surged, doubling from 316 in 2019 to 658 in 2024. The state holds the highest number of waivers in the country.

Waivers grant services a mostly temporary exemption from some quality regulations under national law, allowing them to operate without meeting national standards.

Children who attend centres with staffing waivers are at a much higher risk of serious harm, said NSW Greens MLC Abigail Boyd, who chaired an inquiry into NSW childcare centres.

“There is a very clear pattern of understaffing leading to a lack of supervision of children, which leads to harm,” Boyd said.

“A serious incident mostly occurs when there is a lack of supervision and a lack of supervision is a direct result of understaffing.

“There is a fear from the government and the regulator that if they penalise these services, that they will close down, but what they’re actually doing is just creating a status quo where it’s OK not to have the legislative number of staff on board.”

A “serious incident” is defined as any event involving the death of a child, a medical emergency – such as anaphylaxis or a head injury – or a situation where a child is missing, locked out, or taken from the premises.

Serious incidents in NSW childcare were overwhelmingly concentrated in centre-based day care settings. Of the 9430 serious incidents recorded across the state, 6786 occurred in centre-based day care.

Outside School Hours Care accounted for the next-highest volume with 1734 incidents, while preschools and family day care reported 732 and 168 incidents, respectively.

While the total number of incidents in NSW was higher than in other states, its rate of 154.4 incidents per 100 approved services was lower than the national average of 159.8 and below Tasmania (216.7 per cent) and the ACT (263.9 per cent)

According to the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority, the most common types of injuries, trauma or illness include open wounds, broken bones and head injuries or concussions.

The government has introduced a raft of new laws to protect children and established a new Early Learning Commission to tackle compliance.

NSW Early Learning Acting Commissioner Daryl Curries said the vast majority of services are safe and high-quality, and attributed incident increases to an uptick in reporting.

He said waiver numbers were declining and as of June 30, 579 staffing waivers were in place.

“Waivers that risk the safety of children cannot and will not be granted, and all waivers are subject to regular review,” he said.

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