Passage of the Early Childhood Legislation (Child Safety) Amendment Bill 2025 will drive the most significant strengthening of child safety requirements in early childhood education and care since the National Quality Framework (NQF) began in 2012.
The reforms will give effect to key recommendations from the Child Safety Review and other priority national actions agreed by Education Ministers in August and October 2025, including:
- making the safety, rights and best interests of children the paramount consideration in the operation of an education and care service
- establishment of a national early childhood educator register and requirement for providers of NQF approved services to enter and maintain their workforce information in the register for access by the regulatory authorities
- mandating only service-issued devices for taking images or videos of children
- mandating no personal devices when working directly with children (centre-based)
- mandating child safety and child protection training for all staff, volunteers and students
- establishing 'inappropriate conduct' as an offence
- enabling regulatory authorities to proactively share the identity of prohibited individuals and individuals subject to enforceable undertakings with their current approved provider
- broadening the range of regulatory responses available for addressing misconduct
- removing the ability to apply for ongoing service waivers related to regulation 115 - premises designed to facilitate supervision
- allowing the effective identification, monitoring and regulation of 'related providers'
- making it an offence for anyone subject to a prohibition notice give a recruitment agency false or misleading information about their prohibition notice
- expanding the powers of regulatory authorities to gather and share information with and from recruitment agencies
- extending the limitation period for offences to enable prosecution to be undertaken, including a 'stop the clock' provision for prosecuting offences
- a three-fold increase to all maximum penalties under the NQF
- expanding the use of Penalty Infringement Notices (PINs), and
- requiring individuals to hold an approved/valid Working With Children Check (WWCC) before starting work and mandate any changes to WWCC to approved providers and regulatory authorities.
Additional measures for family day care include:
- requiring assessments of Family Day Care (FDC) residences to include areas near the residence that may be accessible to children, and
- enabling authorised officers to access the FDC service premises and areas beyond residence for monitoring and compliance or investigation of offences or alleged offences.
Most amendments are set to commence on 27 February 2026, while some provisions will take effect earlier.
Amendments to the statute of limitations will occur the day after Royal Assent, anticipated by 9 December 2025.
Changes to maximum penalties and infringements will apply from 1 January 2026.
These reforms reflect a unified national commitment to ensuring the safety and wellbeing of children in early childhood education and care settings.
