The Department for Education pleaded guilty and was sentenced in the South Australian Employment Court on 8 October 2025 after a SafeWork SA prosecution.

The incident occurred on 25 August 2021, when a 16-year-old student was using a playground swing at Port Augusta Special School.

One of the swing’s severely worn supporting bolts broke, throwing the student to the ground, resulting in significant head injuries.

The SafeWork SA investigation found that the swing failed because one of the two shackle bolts that supported the swing’s chains had worn down over years of use so that only 5 per cent of its cross-section remained.

Testing confirmed there was no manufacturing defect in the worn shackle.

The court found that damage to the shackle likely occurred gradually over multiple annual inspection periods after a brass bush failed. The failed bush and worn bolt were readily identifiable on inspection.

The school’s playground equipment was installed in 2012. None of the playground equipment was ever given a comprehensive annual inspection in the eight years prior to the offence. Nor did any of the quarterly inspections include the load bearing moving parts of the swings.

The applicable Australian Standard allows a maximum three-month period between inspections of the shackles and bearings. The Australian Standard was never correctly applied or followed by the Department for Education in the eight years prior to the offence.

The school’s playground equipment was immediately fenced off after the incident and later decommissioned. A new playground was installed at a cost of about $290,000.

Prior to the incident, the Department for Infrastructure and Transport had written to the Department for Education, outlining the Australian Standard’s recommended minimum quarterly inspection of moving parts of playground equipment.

The Department for Education was charged with one count of breaching its primary safety duty contrary to section 32 of the Work Health and Safety Act 2012 (SA).

A conviction was recorded and the Department for Education was fined $225,000 following a reduction by 10 per cent for its guilty plea.

The Department for Education was also ordered to pay a contribution to SafeWork SA’s legal costs of $2,310, and a Victim of Crime Levy of $437.

In his sentencing remarks, Deputy President Lieschke concluded that the Department for Education’s safety system failed centrally, not at the local or school level.

“The fact that none of the three school leaders since 2017 knew about the comprehensive annual inspection requirement, together with the lack of any evidence of how they should have known, demonstrates the defendant’s central failings,” Deputy President Lieschke noted.

“The offence occurred due to a fundamental failure to implement and enforce a policy about having annual inspections of known serious hazards to particularly vulnerable children, and after not responding to warnings received at a high level.

“The seriousness is aggravated by the defendant placing a particularly vulnerable group of disabled children at risk of serious injury over a long period.”

Attribute to SafeWork SA Executive Director Glenn Farrell

Playgrounds are supposed to be a safe place for development and learning and not be overlooked from the dangers that exist if not properly maintained.

In the case of any plant and equipment, inspection and maintenance are essential to ensure they operate effectively and don’t give rise to the risks of danger.

If not inspected, critical components will wear beyond their design life, and it will only be a matter of time before a failure occurs, which may result in a serious injury, as did so in this case.

Those responsible for playgrounds are reminded of their duty to conduct inspections of their play equipment, to identify existing or new hazards and ensure they are appropriately managed.