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Today, Milestones Early Learning Werribee received a 90-day suspension notice from the Victorian Early Childhood Regulatory Authority (VECRA) following the discovery of numerous serious infractions by the childcare regulatory body.
VECRA reported that children had “limited access” to educational materials, play resources, and outdoor areas at the center located in Melbourne’s western suburb. This facility is operated by the major childcare provider, Affinity Education Group.
The center’s furniture was found to be in a state of disrepair, creating potential dangers for children. Specific issues included broken and exposed grates, damaged furniture, peeling paint, visible electrical cords, unsafe power cord setups, and faulty door latches and guards.
VECRA officers allegedly encountered several unsupervised infants under 12 months of age in one of the rooms.
Furthermore, the center purportedly neglected to report several incidents to VECRA, as legally required.
A subsequent compliance check found new issues, VECRA claims, including the premises, furniture and equipment not being safe, clean and in good repair and unsafe sleep practices for babies at the service.
While Affinity Education Group had rectified some of the issues, VECRA alleged there “continues to be significant compliance issues that put the health, safety and wellbeing of children at risk”.
“VECRA is simply not satisfied that Affinity Education Group has the necessary management and oversight mechanisms in place at this service to ensure that the non-compliances identified will not happen again,” the Authority said in a statement.
“The suspension of 90 days is to allow time for Affinity Education Group to undertake the required work to improve their systems, programs and facilities so they are safe for children and are compliant with the law.”
The centre has been given 14 days’ notice and will close for 90 days from April 13, Affinity Education confirmed in a statement.
“Affinity acknowledges that this outcome falls short of both regulatory expectations and the standards we set for our centres,” an Affinity Education Group spokesperson said.
“We apologise for the disruption this will cause families and educators.”
The childcare provider claimed it had rectified 90 per cent of the issues outlined by VECRA at the Werribee centre prior to its suspension.
“This included revised room layouts to strengthen supervision arrangements, repairs completed to equipment and facilities, improved capabilities around facilities management to ensure a more consistent standard is maintained and remedial training and refresher courses on appropriate policies and practices at the centre,” the spokesperson said.
“More work, however, clearly needs to be done and further remediation work is underway and we will work closely with the regulator while this is completed.”
If the Affinity Group fails to make compliance changes, it could face a more than $1 million penalty and the centre could be permanently shut down.
“The safety, wellbeing, and continued access to quality care for children remains our highest priority,” the Affinity Education Group spokesperson said.
“Affinity will continue to work closely with VECRA and provide updates as this process progresses.”
Affinity said it was working closely with families to arrange alternative care arrangements at nearby centres.
VECRA was established on January 1 as part of a series of reforms targeting the childcare industry after more than 70 child sex charges were laid against former childcare worker Joshua Brown in May.
Milestones Early Learning Werribee is one of 23 centres where accused childcare rapist Joshua Brown worked between January 2017 and May 2025.
Brown is accused of more than 150 child sexual abuse-related charges against 12 alleged victims.
Records show Brown worked at the Werribee centre on August 14 to 16 in 2024.
He is not accused of any offending at the Werribee centre.
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