Play centre charged after child falls seven metres

By Cassandra Morgan

The owners of an indoor play centre will face court after an eight-year-old child fell about seven metres from a rope ladder and fractured their spine.

The child was playing at Funtopia Maribyrnong at Maidstone, in Melbourne's northwest, in July 2022 when they fell from the rope ladder.

WorkSafe Victoria on Friday charged the company behind the play centre, Entertainment Velocity Pty Ltd, alleging it had breached health and safety laws.

The regulator hit the company with three charges, accusing it of failing to ensure people were not exposed to health and safety risks and failing to reduce the risk of uncontrolled falls by maintaining, inspecting and replacing climbing safety equipment.

The company will face Melbourne Magistrates Court on March 28.

Entertainment Velocity Pty Ltd said it had not been made aware of the charges, but intended to fight them in court.

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