Play centre fined after girl’s horror fall

A Melbourne father has described seeing his daughter being treated by paramedics as his “worst nightmare” after she fell 7m at an indoor play centre.

The eight-year-old girl had been attending a friend’s birthday party at Funtopia Maribyrnong on July 16, 2022, when a self-belay device failed and she plummeted to the ground from the top of a rope ladder.

She hit the ground feet first and was found not moving on the matting.

The company which operates the venue, Entertainment Velocity Pty Ltd, was charged by the workplace regulator WorkSafe in March this year following an investigation into the incident.

The company pleaded guilty to two breaches of the Occupational Health and Safety Act during a hearing last month and returned to the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Friday where a $60,000 fine was imposed.

In a statement to the court, the girl’s father said he had been working nearby and rushed to the venue after receiving a call.

“It was my worst nightmare seeing my child lying in a stretcher with a neck brace on,” he said.

“Not a day goes by where I do not think of her injury and how this could impact her life.”

The court was told the girl suffered two compression fractures in her spine and remained in pain months after the incident.

She told the court in a letter the injury had changed her life as she was forced to quit gymnastics and swimming.

“Sometimes it hurts and does not stop for a while,” she said.

The court was told the play centre was originally operated by Funtopia but had changed hands and Entertainment Velocity became a franchisee of the chain in 2019.

WorkSafe prosecutor Tristan Joseph said the self-belay safety device was found to be “extremely degraded” during an expert assessment after the horror fall.

“It was degraded to such a degree it just completely failed,” he said.

“That there wasn’t an incident earlier should be attributed to good fortune.”

Stephen Russell, for Entertainment Velocity, told the court that all the devices were immediately replaced after the accident and the company had now committed to spending $180,000 on new “state of the art” devices.

At an earlier court hearing, he said his client had relied heavily on Funtopia to provide information on safety and maintenance but accepted responsibility for the breaches.

“There were checks and balances. We weren’t on notice our system was inadequate at that stage,” he said.

Handing down the fine and recording a conviction, Magistrate Louise Wildberger found this was a serious departure from safety practices.

“There is no doubt this would have been an incredibly traumatic experience,” she said.

Ms Wildberger said the company had failed to rigorously check and maintain equipment “that was at the court of the activity Entertainment Velocity provided”.

In a statement, Funtopia expressed its “sincerest condolences” to all affected by the incident and had co-operated with WorkSafe.

“Safety is of paramount importance to Funtopia, and all franchisees are rigorously trained to conduct their operations safely,” operations manager Wayne Kong-Gardiner said.

“However, the conduct admitted by the franchisee falls significantly below our standards.

“Given the guilty plea, the franchise code gives the franchisor options, including termination. “The franchisor is obtaining legal advice to find solutions that will not be disruptive to our patrons.”