Al-Huda Pty Ltd and Secretary, Department of Education and Training

The Administrative Appeals Tribunal considered a dispute between Al-Huda Pty Ltd (the Applicant) and the Secretary, Department of Education and Training (the Respondent) concerning the continued approval of the Applicant as a provider of child care services under family assistance law. The Applicant sought to challenge decisions made by the Respondent regarding non-compliance with its obligations.

The Tribunal was required to determine whether the Applicant had failed to comply, or was continuing to fail to comply, with a condition for its continued approval as a child care service provider. Specifically, the Tribunal had to assess whether the Applicant's reporting of attendance records and enrolments was accurate and timely, and whether the Applicant was a suitable person to operate a child care service. The Tribunal also had to consider whether a sanction should be imposed and, if so, which sanction was appropriate.

The Tribunal found that the Applicant had falsely and/or inaccurately reported 45 sessions of care as absences, and had also falsely and/or inaccurately reported 99 sessions of care that overlapped with sessions reported by other services. Furthermore, the Applicant had a significant history of late reporting of enrolments and attendance records, with 1558 occasions of late enrolment reports and 998 occasions of late attendance reports between January 2016 and June 2018. The Tribunal accepted the Respondent's submission that cancelling attendance reporting data did not rectify the non-compliance that led to an overpayment. The Tribunal concluded that the Applicant had not complied with the conditions for continued approval under the relevant legislation, and that the Applicant's continued non-compliance after July 2018 demonstrated an ongoing lack of understanding of its legal obligations and inadequate governance arrangements.

The Tribunal affirmed the Respondent's decision.