The acting chief executive responsible for a childcare centre where carers allegedly physically assaulted children says she is "profoundly sorry", while labelling delays in reporting as "unacceptable".
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Police, the ACT Government, and the service provider have all launched investigations into the alleged excessive use of force by childcare workers at the Northside Community Services' Civic Early Childhood Centre.
Four staff members were this week issued with summons to appear in the ACT Magistrates Court, with three facing a combined 13 allegations of assault dating back to 2014.
The exact nature of the alleged excessive force remains unclear, and the workers' lawyer Peter Woodhouse said the claims will be defended vigorously.
But questions remain over the length of time it took to report the allegations.
They first surfaced in April this year, a year after the alleged acts.
The leadership team at Northside Community Services, the provider managing the centre, says it was first made aware of the incidents during an internal audit process.
Acting chief executive officer Kate Cvetanovski said the leadership team contacted police, the ACT government and Care and Protection the same day.
"Any of the alleged incidents are completely unacceptable," she said.
"If they are seen to have come to fruition, and we are, once again, sorry for any of the distress that the investigation or court hearings have caused to any children or families."
The service has acted swiftly, upon learning of the allegations in April, to prevent a repeat.
It is undergoing an external audit, conducting its own internal review and re-training staff in their obligations.
The ACT Children's Education and Care Assurance body is also investigating possible breaches of the national quality framework for childcare.
That framework binds centre directors by law to immediately report any inappropriate conduct or excessive use of force.
"We are really unclear as to why that didn't happen" Ms Cvetanovski said.
"But what we have done is gone back and met with every single educator and nominated supervisor across the four northside early childhood centres and reminded and reinforced their responsibilities."
Ms Cvetanovski said some families had left the centre since the allegations surfaced.
She said the service was committed to being upfront and transparent, and that the various investigations would get to the bottom of why it took so long for the reports to be made.
"We have put everything in place, as an immediate response as soon as we were made aware of these allegations, to ensure this never, ever happens again."
The staff members involved were stood down as soon as the service leadership was made aware of the allegations.
The staff members are expected to appear in court in November
