Goodstart suspends national minibus service after Queensland toddler death
Goodstart Early Learning has temporarily suspended its pick-up and drop-off service across the country after a toddler died on one of the company's minibuses in far north Queensland.
The three-year-old boy was found dead outside Hambledon State School in the Cairns suburb of Edmonton about 3.15pm on Tuesday.
The boy was picked up in the morning and bound for the nearby daycare centre, but never made it, triggering a full police investigation now focused on the still-unconfirmed movements of the bus throughout the day.
Goodstart Early Learning chief executive Julia Davison said the company's 15,000 staff across the country were "devastated and shocked" by the Queensland death.
"It’s every family’s worst nightmare that something might happen to their child and it's every educator’s worst nightmare that something might happen to a child in their care," she told Nine's The Today Show.
"We have decided, as a precaution – this has been a very difficult decision for us to make – to not use our buses from later today [Wednesday].
Police are investigating what happened between the discovery and when the boy was supposed have been delivered to a nearby day care centre.
"We obviously don't know what happened in this particular incident but we want to be cautious."
Detective Inspector Jason Smith told media on Wednesday morning the police investigation would keep an "open mind" but was being assisted by Goodstart and focused on the movements of the bus throughout the day.
CCTV footage from the centre and across the city will be scoured. Police are also looking through documents provided by the centre, which has been closed, including a roll book (a list of the kids who were/should have been on the bus).
He said the bus, operated by the same driver who would later make the discovery, had picked up the boy from home about 9.30am Tuesday.
The driver was taken in a "distraught" state to Cairns Base Hospital and treated for shock, with police hoping to speak with him today. The bus makes a number of runs to different venues, including taking them home, Detective Inspector Smith said.
"There's a lot of things around the movement of the bus – where it should have been, where it could have been, who was on it – all of that has to be narrowed down."
He said the boy's mother was advised Tuesday afternoon, with two Indigenous family liason officers now providing the family with support and updates in light of the "horrific" situation.
In a further statement Wednesday morning, Ms Davison confirmed the Edmonton Goodstart centre had been closed and contact had been made with families.
She said she had travelled to Cairns to ensure staff and families were supported as more is learnt about the circumstances surrounding the incident.
"Our bus services will complete their scheduled pick-up and drop-off services today, with additional checks in place until all children are home this afternoon," Ms Davison said.
"It is a great responsibility to care for a child and each day tens of thousands of families entrust their precious children to us. It is not a responsibility we take lightly."
Temperatures hit 34 degrees in Cairns yesterday as heatwave conditions eased.
Concerned Gold Coast parents lodged a complaint with police in January 2018 after their one-year-old daughter was left in a bus used by Goodstart Early Learning.