Nation leading reforms to prioritise the safety and wellbeing of our youngest learners and crack down on dodgy providers to restore parents' trust in early childhood education services have passed the NSW Parliament.
The new laws mean service providers will have stronger child-first obligations, families will have more transparency and better access to information, and a mobile phone ban with significant penalties will be introduced in early childhood centres.
Provisions in the Children (Education and Care Services National Law Application) Act 2010 (National Law) that make the rights and best interests of children paramount will take effect immediately upon the legislation receiving assent by the NSW Governor.
The Minns Labor Government introduced the legislation last month after an independent review by the Deputy Premier into early childhood education and care regulation, which found the Regulator was significantly constrained by the existing National Law.
These changes fast-track and significantly expand on nationally agreed reforms. While some improvements to the National Law are being developed, these reforms go further and implement nationally agreed reform for children in NSW now.
The Minns Labor Government will not delay action in the best interests of children and families, and we will continue to advocate for national consistency, so that all children in Australia can receive the same level of protection now provided in NSW.
More than 30 reforms are included in the legislation. NSW nation leading reforms will provide:
- An obligation for services to prioritise child safety, including compulsory child protection training and child safe recruitment practices. Parents will be notified when the regulatory authority commences an investigation into a serious incident to ensure they are aware of what is happening in their child's service.
- A 900 per cent increase to maximum penalties for large providers operating 25 or more services, across all offences.
- New powers enabling the Regulator to publish more information about high-risk services, including details of current investigations.
- Authority for the Regulator to suspend or revoke quality ratings during or following investigations.
- Strengthened whistleblower protections.
Additionally, the legislation brings forward timelines for nationally agreed positions announced earlier this year, and extends the national position in several instances including:
- A legal obligation for the early childhood sector and the Regulator to put the rights and best interests of children above all else, ensuring their safety and wellbeing are at the centre of every decision.
- Greater transparency for families, with services expected to display a short-form compliance history at their premises and on their website, providing families with more transparency about their child's service.
- Tripled penalties in line with nationally agreed changes.
- Authority for the Regulator to suspend or impose supervision orders on individual educators.
- Making it an offence for people providing, or working in, early childhood education and care to subject a child or children to inappropriate conduct.
- Extending the limitation period for offences to be prosecuted. Consistent with the national approach, NSW will now apply the limitation for offences from when the regulator is notified, not the date of the offence.
Acting Minister for Education and Early Learning Courtney Houssos said:
"This Government said we'd strengthen the laws, increase fines for poor quality operators, and improve transparency to rebuild trust in the early childhood sector.
"This is the most significant reform to the National Law in 15 years, strengthening protections for every child in early education and care services across NSW.
"These changes - initiated by the Deputy Premier Prue Car - set clear expectations and will allow us to implement all the Wheeler recommendations in short order.
"Families deserve to know their children are safe, respected, and nurtured when they attend childcare, preschool, or outside school care. This legislation will ensure the safety and wellbeing of children comes first."
