The Malinauskas Labor Government is further strengthening its efforts to place child safety and quality at the centre of early childhood education and care, with increased investment in the regulator announced this week.
Ahead of a meeting with state and territory colleagues to discuss the National Child Safety Review, Minister for Education, Training and Skills, Blair Boyer, announced an additional $21.8 million over five years to expand compliance and raise standards across early childhood services in the state.
The investment includes an immediate $900,000 injection in 2025–26 to double the Education Standards Board's (ESB) compliance function, alongside about $4.6 million annually to boost assessment and ratings of early childhood services.
This builds on the $7.1 million committed in 2024 to strengthen the ESB's operations, which has already resulted in a doubling of regulatory officers, increased frequency of assessment and ratings and more unannounced inspections of services.
In a further measure to protect children, the State Government recently announced a ban on the use of personal devices in all centre-based early years services across South Australia. Developed in collaboration with the Victorian Government, this policy means both states are the first in the nation to introduce the ban ahead of proposed national laws.
These initiatives further support South Australia's landmark $1.9 billion early childhood reform agenda, the most significant investment in early childhood in the state's history.
Central to the reforms is the introduction of universal three-year-old preschool, with a commitment to quality and safety embedded as a priority.
To become a funded three-year-old preschool provider under the new model, services must undergo an eligibility assessment, informed by ESB data and advice, including systemic safety and quality considerations.
Services rated as Working Towards the National Quality Framework are also contractually required to complete the Quality Uplift Program, led by the Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) with funding from the South Australian Government.
The Government is also backing the early childhood workforce, with a $118.63 million investment over five years to grow, train and retain skilled educators and teachers. Funding will support new pathways into the sector, strengthen professional development, and support services to have the staff they need to deliver safe, high-quality education and care.
As put by Blair Boyer
These measures confirm South Australia's commitment to child safety and quality.
The Malinauskas Labor Government has taken strong action following the 2023 SA Royal Commission into Early Education, Children and Care, led by Julia Gillard, to ensure our regulator has the investment it needs. An additional $7.1m has been provided for our independent regulator, the Education Standards Board, to improve the frequency of the assessment and rating of ECEC services. This initial investment has resulted in a doubling of staff and has seen a 63 per cent increase in service visits.
Our government is now building on our previous investment with ongoing additional funding for the ESB - $21.8m over five years. This will deliver increased compliance checks and ensure ratings of ECEC services are updated every three years, the nation leading standard recommended by our Royal Commission. We are providing the ESB with the necessary resources to ensure the highest quality early learning across South Australia.
More visits to services will mean more compliance action because we will not tolerate poor behaviour or quality issues.
South Australia was also the first jurisdiction with Victoria to implement a personal device ban in early learning settings. I'm looking forward to discussing with my state and territory colleagues about how we have rolled this out to ensure all jurisdictions are in line with each other.
Other priorities I hope to discuss will include the national education register. This is an important reform that South Australia supports to keep kids safe.
Further to this, the Malinauskas Labor Government has invested $1.9b into early childhood reforms, which will include delivering a quality uplift program to support centres with a 'working towards' rating through individualised professional learning and mentoring.
