A childcare centre practice colloquially known as "under the roof", which calculates the ratio of educators to children, is being misused, according to respondents of an investigation by 7.30.
Wollongong-based early childhood educator and trainer Emma Rattenbury explained the rule was meant to allow educators to take short breaks, but was being abused.
"The 'under the roof' [rule] is a colloquial term for the understanding that ratios are calculated across an entire service and not within a room," Ms Rattenbury said.
"There might be enough educators within that service at that point in time, but they're not working directly with children, and that's where that rule and that regulation is being misused."
More than a thousand families and educators contacted 7.30 in response to an audience call-out investigating safety in the childcare sector.
Complaints by educators about the abuse of "under the roof" ratios were the most commonly raised issue by educators who contacted 7.30 regarding problems in the sector.
Among the responses sent to our investigation, educators told us:
- We are illegally operating every day. Every day we are out of ratio.
- The chef was included in our staff ratios at one stage.
- I have been expected to have five babies alone in my care as "under roof" ratio is being upheld.
- Staff are also expected to do paperwork and clean the centre while working with children and this just doesn't allow for adequate supervision or meet even the minimum staffing requirements.
- I complained about not meeting ratios as I quit the workplace, but they insisted it was fine as they were operating as an "under roof" ratio (but the other staff were on lunch break, so should not have counted).
- Ratios need to be addressed and the use of the "under the roof" rule (if you could call it that) needs to be cracked down on.
- Businesses are cutting staff down to make more money under the name of "roof line ratio", so sometimes you have 16 children with one staff. How on earth is that fair?
- When I have raised concerns about staff working outside of child-to-staff ratios, it's common to hear phrases like "we are only one child over ratio", or "it's only for a short time". The one that concerns me is that many private centres work on "under roof ratio" meaning if one room has more staff members than needed then another room can operate with fewer staff.
The Minister for Early Childhood Education, Anne Aly, said the use of "under the roof" ratios were "a matter of concern".
"If centres are, as you say, abusing the 'under the roof' ratios, this is a matter for us to ensure that they don't abuse that through the Quality Framework because ... [it] makes it very clear about what the ratios are and that there needs to be a certain number of educators and a teacher under that ratio rule," Ms Aly said.
"And if services are abusing that, then this is a matter for ACECQA (Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority) when they undertake their assessments of those services to ensure that they are complying with the quality framework."
Ratio guidelines
The national agency in charge of childcare centre regulation, ACECQA, does set out the minimum educator-to-child ratios under the National Quality Framework (NQF).
Its rules state that educators must be working directly with children to be counted in the educator-to-child ratios.
"Working directly with children means being physically present with the children and directly involved in providing education and care to those children," ACECQA's rules state.
However, ACECQA also clarifies that ratios are calculated across a whole service, not by individual rooms.
"This gives providers the flexibility to respond to ensure educators are allocated appropriately based on the age and needs of children in the service," ACECQA stated.
Yet Queensland, Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia each have specific provisions that allow educators on short breaks who are not working directly with children to still be counted towards the ratio.
Early childhood educator Reanna Kiernan from the Gold Coast recently left the industry for good over staff shortages, and said misuse of "under the roof" was rife.
"If parents knew what was happening, most of the time, in regards to things like ratios, or under the roof, or staffing and things like that, I don't think they would feel comfortable enough to leave their children," she said.
"I just don't think it [under the roof] is used correctly. I don't know if there is a correct way to use 'under the roof'. I don't think it should be allowed.
"It doesn't relate to having a duty of care to those extra [children] that I have to care for, and that extra pressure that's put on another staff member to care for extra children on their own.
"Sometimes there were two educators in the room where sometimes we had nine babies, even 10 babies at times, you know, and with all of those individual routines, it gets really difficult and really stressful to just maintain that duty of care."
Failures to supervise and protect children
Data published by ACECQA in its December 2023 report into safety in Early Childhood Education and Care settings showed extraordinary increases in confirmed breaches of inadequate supervision, and a failure to protect children from harm and hazards.
Between 2016-17 and 2022-23, substantiated instances of inadequate supervision of children trebled, and cases of failing to protect children from harm and hazards more than doubled.
Ms Aly said the government is working to reform the sector.
"Individual incidents happen for different reasons, and I think the best thing that we can do is to ensure there is a standard in place and address the issues around things like line of supervision," Ms Aly said.
The ACECQA report made 16 recommendations and also noted a persistent and acute staff shortage in the childcare sector.
State and federal education ministers have since accepted in-principle key recommendations from that review, and the federal government has said it is now busy working on a long-term reform plan.
"All of those pieces will inform that reform plan and we're working through that at the moment," Ms Aly said.
"What we do know is that the end goal, what we want to achieve from all of this, is that that system is world-class, and as I mentioned, that it is affordable, that it is accessible, that is inclusive and that is safe.
"There is significant work to be done."
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