Werribee early childhood service faces suspension of service approval due to serious safety concerns

Media release Published: Tuesday 31 March 2026 at 9:30 am

The Victorian Early Childhood Regulatory Authority (VECRA) has suspended the service approval of Milestones Early Learning Werribee, owned by the Affinity Education Group PTY LTD, for a period of 90 days.

VECRA authorised officers identified a range of serious and concerning examples of non-compliance at the service, including:

several children under 12 months old being left unsupervised in a room;
limited access to educational or play resources; and limited access to outdoor spaces for play;
multiple failures to notify VECRA of incidents that are required to be reported by law;
furniture and equipment in a state of disrepair, posing hazards to children, including:

exposed, broken grates
ripped and torn furniture
peeling paint
exposed electrical cords and hazardous power cord arrangements
raised door handles, and broken door latches and guards.

The reasons for taking this enforcement action were that:

The Regulatory Authority reasonably believed that it would not be in the best interests of children being educated and cared for by the service for the service to continue.
A condition of the service approval had not been complied with. It is a lawful condition of service approval that the education and care service is operated in a way that ensures the health, safety and wellbeing of the children being educated and cared for by the service, as well as their educational and developmental needs.
At an inspection by VECRA to check compliance, a number of non-compliance issues remained outstanding.
The service was not being managed in accordance with the National Law.

Concerningly, the inspection also identified multiple new compliance issues. These related to the premises, furniture and equipment not being safe, clean and in good repair, failures to follow policies and procedures, and unsafe sleep practices for babies at the service.

While Affinity Education Group had addressed some of our concerns, 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 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 provider’s failure to comply with this notice may lead to cancellation of the service approval or prosecution for breach the provisions under the National Law.

A maximum penalty of $1,034,100 may apply if this notice is not complied with and Affinity Education Group operates this service without approval.

This suspension takes effect 14 days after the notice is given to the provider. Affinity Education Group is required to communicate with impacted families.

Quotes attributable to Adam Fennessy PSM, Interim Early Childhood Regulator:

“Parents deserve to have peace of mind that their children are safe and well cared for in their early childhood service.”

“This service was put on notice due to its child safety practices, yet it failed to address these concerns around the health, wellbeing and safety of children in its care."

“We will not hesitate to take strong action against any service that puts children’s safety at risk. This includes suspending them until we are satisfied that they can provide the safe and high-quality level of care that they are legally required to do.”

Further background

On 1 January 2026, the Victorian Early Childhood Regulatory Authority (VECRA) commenced operations as Victoria’s new independent early childhood regulator.

A key recommendation from the 2025 Rapid Child Safety Review, the new independent regulator oversees safety, quality, and compliance in early childhood services across Victoria.

Media contact: vecra.media@education.vic.gov.au

Early childhood education and care

Updated 7 April 2026

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Werribee early childhood service faces suspension of service approval due to serious safety concerns

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