Grandfather mistakenly takes home wrong child from Sydney daycare; investigation launched
Man collected a sleeping one-year-old from First Steps Learning Academy in Bangor on Monday; centre's pick-up protocols under scrutiny
An investigation has been launched after a grandfather accidentally took home the wrong child from a daycare centre in the southern Sydney suburb of Bangor.
The man arrived at First Steps Learning Academy on Monday afternoon to collect his grandchild but left the centre with a different child, who was asleep in a dark room, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. The error was only discovered when the mother of the one-year-old arrived at the centre and found her child was not there.
The mother, who asked not to be named, described her distress on discovering the child missing and said staff were initially unable to provide details about the person who had collected the child. "I can't explain the feeling," she told the newspaper. "They couldn't tell me [the man's] name, they couldn't tell me who he was, they couldn't tell me who he was meant to pick up. They couldn't tell me what he looked like, apart from that he was wearing shorts and he was an older gentleman."
Childcare safety protocols in Australia generally stipulate that children may only be released to recognised parents, guardians or authorised carers. The mother said she did not hold the grandfather responsible for the incident and blamed the daycare centre for the lapse in supervision and record-keeping.
The centre and relevant authorities have acknowledged the incident and an investigation has been opened to establish how the child was released to the wrong person and whether procedures were followed. The investigation is expected to examine sign-in and sign-out practices, staff supervision and the implementation of authorised-collector lists.
The incident has renewed attention on pick-up procedures in early childhood settings, where strict controls are designed to protect children from being collected by unauthorised individuals. Regulators and childcare providers routinely review collection policies and staff training after such breaches to determine whether policy changes or disciplinary action are required.
No criminal charges were reported at the time of the accounts published by local media. The grandfather's wife and other family members have not issued public statements. The centre has not released a detailed public account but is cooperating with the inquiry, according to local reports.
Authorities and childcare experts say clear documentation and staff adherence to authorised-collector lists are central to preventing similar incidents. The investigation aims to establish the facts of the case and to recommend any remedial measures to ensure children's safety at the facility.