Magistrate Kate Thompson last month fined the council $5000 and ordered costs of a further $5000 after it pleaded guilty to charges of not adequately supervising a child in its care and not protecting a child from harm or hazard. According to a statement of agreed facts, the child's mother arrived at the centre to pick him up on June 16, 2014, only to discover he was missing. A member of the public found him wandering the streets and took him to another childcare centre, where he was found by a staff member of the Ultimo service. An incident report was completed in which it was recommended the boy be subject to one-on-one supervision and a risk assessment be undertaken to assess whether the building should be secured "so children cannot abscond". The centre decided not to make any physical changes to the premises.

The Department of Education investigated and issued the council with a caution over a number of legal breaches, including for failing to supervise the child. On November 17, 2016, the child was found wet and naked in the shower area of the Ultimo Community Centre after leaving the basketball court, where he had been playing soccer. The City of Sydney has been fined after its childcare service failed to properly supervise the boy. Credit:Nic Kocher The staff member supposed to be watching him was disciplined after CCTV revealed the worker was on a laptop at the time. Two months later a staff member was supervising up to four children, including the boy, who was riding on a toy car, in the outdoor play area.

The staff member was packing away play equipment when he was approached by a child's parent, who told him the boy was riding through the foyer. The worker found the child out on the street and didn't report the incident for more than a month. According to the facts, an educator at the service recalled telling the manager of child and family services at the council as early as June 2014 that “we could not guarantee (the child escaping) would not happen again and that we needed to have some type of physical barrier in place”. Following the second incident a meeting was held involving the council and union representatives in which it was discussed that the majority of staff felt there needed to be a barrier. On February 5, 2018, a staff member saw the boy put his bag on his shoulder and sit on the couch near the front door. Despite being aware staff were having to take his bag from him to prevent him from leaving, she didn't remove the bag and kept supervising the craft activity. Up to 15 minutes later a parent told the staff member she'd seen the boy leave. She pursued him down William Henry St and Harris St, leading him back to the centre after seeing him hiding behind a tree.

In sentencing the council, Ms Thompson said it hadn't made changes to the premises, such as a barrier or gate, that would have prevented the child from leaving. "The defendant was clearly on notice the child was at serious risk of absconding," Ms Thompson said. A City of Sydney spokesperson said the council reviewed the centre's operations, installing a push button to control access to and from the centre, as well as a safety fence around the childcare area. "We have consulted the parents of the child involved and they have welcomed the City’s actions, and are supportive of him remaining enrolled at the service," the spokesperson said.