Arabic version: أم من كانبرا تطالب بإجابات بعد هروب طفلين من مركز رعاية

According to ABC News, Naomi Brooks says her five-year-old son and another child escaped Majura Early Childhood Centre in Dickson, Canberra, last Monday and walked about two kilometres. The boys were reported to have crossed four streets after leaving the service during rest time.

The children used play equipment to leave the centre, turning it on its side, climbing a bench and scaling a fence. They were later seen by two separate members of the public, who contacted ACT Policing sometime after 1pm. Officers reunited the children with their parents at about 2:30pm after determining where they had gone missing from. It remains unclear how and when the centre discovered they were absent.

Ms Brooks said she learned of her son’s disappearance when a police officer came to her home. She said she had struggled to obtain answers from Northside Community Services, the provider of the centre, and described herself as “flabbergasted”. She has applied to withdraw her son and another child from the service, saying she no longer trusted its supervision, while also describing the educators as fabulous and suggesting they were overworked.

Northside declined to answer specific questions about the incident, citing an ongoing investigation, but reiterated its public apology to the two children and their families. Chief executive Dan English said an ex-AFP investigator with child-safety expertise had been appointed and would speak with the parents involved. Northside said it had increased staffing at Majura and placed a Quality and Compliance team member on site. The provider said it would continue engaging with the families, the childcare regulator and ACT Policing, adding that any time outside its care and supervision was unacceptable.