A corporate proprietor of a children's service is directly liable under s 27(1) of the Children's Services Act 1996 (Vic) if adequate supervision does not exist, regardless of where in the organisation the failure occurred. No rules of attribution (Meridian or otherwise) are necessary. The word 'adequate' defines the scope of the duty, not an element of fault, and negligence by the proprietor is not an element of the offence. The existence of a parallel duty on staff members under s 27(2) does not limit the proprietor's duty.
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