The Minns Labor Government will introduce landmark legislation into the NSW Parliament today as part of a suite of urgent reforms to prioritise the safety and wellbeing of our youngest learners and restore parents' trust in early childhood education and care.
This legislation amends how the National Law applies in NSW after an independent review into early childhood education and care regulation in NSW found the regulator was significantly constrained by the National Law. The changes will also fast-track and expand on nationally-agreed reforms to the sector.
The legislation contains more than 30 proposed changes to the Children (Education and Care Services National Law Application) Act 2010 (National Law). These include:
- For the first time, introducing a legal obligation for the sector and regulator to put the rights and best interests of children above all else, ensuring their safety, protection and wellbeing are at the centre of every decision.
- Enabling the regulator to publish more information about high-risk services, including current investigations.
- Enabling the regulator to suspend or revoke quality ratings during or following an investigation.
- Empowering the regulator to suspend and order the supervision of individual educators.
- Increasing whistleblower protections.
- Tripling penalties across the board in line with nationally-agreed changes.
- A 900% increase will also apply to the maximum penalty for large providers that operate 25 or more services across the board for all offences.
- Increasing the number of offences for which a penalty infringement notice can be issued from 15 to 30.
- Introducing a new nation-leading power for the Minister and regulator to issue binding directions to the sector where there is an unacceptable risk to child safety. This could include banning mobile devices, ordering closure during a natural disaster, requiring services to comply with a prospective national teacher register or imposing compulsory child safety training.
- Removing the current loophole preventing the regulator from taking prior offences into account when assessing an approved provider if an infringement notice has been paid.
- Removing pathways for reviewing decisions made by the regulator on the grounds of an unacceptable risk to children.
- Introducing requirements for child-safe recruitment practices, including checking whether current or prospective staff have been prohibited from working in early childhood education and care.
The legislation builds on immediate changes committed to by the Minns Labor Government following the Wheeler Review into early education, commissioned by Deputy Premier Prue Car earlier this year with findings delivered in June.
These changes include the creation of an independent regulatory authority, $55 million to boost frontline staff, and increased publication of regulatory data.
Additionally, the legislation brings forward timelines for nationally-agreed positions announced in August, and extends the national position in several instances including:
- Making it an offence for people providing, or working in, early childhood education and care to subject a child or children to inappropriate conduct.
- Enabling the regulator to require an approved provider to display their compliance history including information about any current investigations
- 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 and, in the NSW law includes a "stop the clock" mechanism when criminal investigations take priority over regulator investigations
These reforms lay the foundation for a strong and independent regulatory body, providing greater transparency for families and stronger penalties for providers who breach standards.
The legislation also complements the government's Working With Children Check (WWCC) reforms, by clarifying that all persons working in the sector must hold a WWCC clearance, and ensuring that decisions about persons who pose an unacceptable risk to the safety of children in early childhood education and care rest with the regulator.
Acting Minister for Education and Early Learning Courtney Houssos said:
"Parents trust early learning services with their children's safety and wellbeing. That trust must be honoured, and safety must always come first.
"While many providers do the right thing, recent cases show goodwill alone is not enough. Until now, the regulator has lacked the powers needed to enforce safety and accountability. This bill provides new offences and penalties to a range of existing offences at a rate at least three times the current paltry amounts. For large providers, those fines can be trebled again.
"This bill also allows for far greater transparency for families. Parents and carers will have access to a service provider's history so they can make an informed choice about the care of their children.
"The most significant reform to the National Law in 15 years, work started by Deputy Premier Prue Car, gives the regulator strong new powers - from imposing major fines on repeat offenders to issuing binding directions - to protect every child in early education and care.
"This nation-leading package of reforms makes clear that the rights and best interests of children come before everything else. This applies to everyone involved: providers, services, educators, carers, board members and the regulator.
"The message from the Minns Labor Government is simple: children, not profit, must come first. The current law has failed to protect children and it is no longer fit for purpose."
