The Malinauskas Labor Government's significant increase in funding for the Education Standards Board, the South Australian Independent Regulatory Authority has seen a massive increase in service visits, compliance action and service assessments – driving our strong efforts to improve quality.
The Education Standards Board (ESB) has reported a significant uplift in all types of regulatory action, on top of the increase that had already been seen post the Royal Commission.
From 2021-22 to 2024-25 Assessment and Rating (A&Rs) of services increased by 76% and Compliance action by 117%, from 328 to 712. Service visits per year increased from 358 in 2021-22 to 680 in 2024-25, and in the financial year to date, the ESB has already visited over 700 services.
Coming from a higher base under the previous Weatherill Government, service visits, Assessment and Rating of services and compliance action all plummeted during the four years of the Marshall Liberal Government. During this period, no additional funds were provided to the Regulator, even as service numbers increased rapidly in SA.
By contrast, following the Gillard Royal Commission in 2023, the government invested an additional $7.1m to support increased assessment and rating of early years services in SA, many of which had languished due to chronic under-investment during the Marshall Government.
In August this year, Education Minister Blair Boyer announced a further $21.8 m over five years to further boost regulatory activity, including unannounced compliance visits. This has resulted in a significant uplift in all types of action undertaken by the Education Standards Board (ESB), on top of the increase that had already been seen post the Royal Commission.
This investment in the Independent Regulator is further strengthening the government's efforts to place child safety and quality at the centre of early childhood education and care, as a part of our landmark $1.97bn Flying Start Reforms.
As put by Blair Boyer
The Malinauskas Labor Government has taken strong action to give the independent regulator the funding it needs. With an extra $29 million in funding since coming to government, this has seen a more than doubling of staff at the ESB to regulate early childhood services.
The significant increase in unannounced compliance visits, compliance action and more frequent assessment and rating of services are all important measures that can give South Australian families confidence in the quality and safety of the services that care for their children.
I am proud that our investment in the ESB means they are visiting more services more often, and I am confident that we are providing the ESB with the necessary resources to ensure the highest quality early learning across South Australia.
The former Liberal Government ignored lifting the quality of early childhood providers – and our government is now doing the work to improve the sector.
