One year after passing landmark child-safety reforms, the Minns Labor Government is delivering on its commitment to put children first, crack down on poor-quality early learning operators and rebuild trust in the sector.
NSW was the first state to act with stronger laws to protect children following a series of harrowing cases of alleged abuse in early learning services.
Following an independent review commissioned by Deputy Premier Prue Car in early 2025, the Government introduced legislation that passed Parliament in October 2025.
The reforms strengthened penalties for providers, expanded powers to suspend educators and services, and introduced restrictions on personal mobile devices in early learning services.
The Government also established the independent NSW Early Learning Commission, which commenced operations in December 2025, to enforce the strengthened laws and improve child safety.
Since its establishment, the Commission has:
- Suspended 53 educators, staff or volunteers considered to pose a risk to children’s safety
- Cancelled eight services and suspended a further 10
- Conducted 8,776 regulatory visits, 71 per cent of which were unannounced
- Taken 876 compliance actions against approved providers, services and educators – an increase of 108 per cent compared with the same period in 2025
- Imposed $324,290 in fines on providers for breaches of their obligations.
Recent penalties include a $17,220 fine issued to Western Future Group Pty Ltd in August for issues relating to staff qualifications, and a $20,610 fine issued to Guardian Community Early Learning Centres Pty Ltd on 3 September for failing to notify the Commission of alleged inappropriate conduct involving an educator at The Rumpus Room Warabrook, in breach of the National Law.
Other significant penalties include a combined $45,180 in fines issued to Guardian Community Early Learning Centres Pty Ltd in June for failing to notify the Commission of complaints and inform parents of an alleged incident involving a child. Affinity Education Group Pty Ltd was fined a combined $67,770 for failing to notify the Commission of serious incidents and inform parents of an alleged incident involving a child.
The reforms have also delivered stronger protections for children and greater transparency for families, including:
- Children’s safety comes first: A paramount duty requires services and the Commission to prioritise children’s safety, rights and best interests in every decision.
- Greater transparency for families: Since November 2025, services have been required to display a short-form compliance and quality history, giving parents clearer information about their service. The Commission also publishes information about enforcement actions, including prosecutions, suspensions and cancellations.
- Stronger protections for children: Expanded powers allow the Commission to suspend individual educators, including volunteers, and impose supervision requirements where necessary to protect children.
- Enhanced child-safe recruitment: Mandatory child-safe recruitment requirements strengthen safeguards for children by ensuring appropriate standards are met when recruiting educators and staff.
- Restrictions on personal devices: A Ministerial Direction prohibits the use of personal devices capable of taking, storing or transmitting images or videos while staff are working directly with children, strengthening safeguards against inappropriate recording and use of images.
The crackdown on poor quality providers has not impacted the overall supply of childcare to families: applications for service approvals in the last quarter have increased by 26% compared to the same quarter last year.
The reforms are backed by an additional $55 million investment over four years to boost frontline regulatory staff, increase service visits and fund CCTV to better protect children in early learning.
Deputy Premier and Minister for Education and Early Learning Prue Car said:
“One year ago, we made it clear that children’s safety and wellbeing would come before the interests of providers when it came to regulating the early learning sector.
“We have backed that commitment with stronger laws, tougher penalties and a regulator with the powers to act. We make no apologies for driving poor-quality operators out of the sector.
“Every operator knows what is expected of them: providing a safe, high-quality environment for children. Parents deserve confidence that when they drop their child off in the morning, their child will be safe.
“Almost 9,000 regulatory visits in a single year and a significant increase in enforcement action show that our reforms are holding providers accountable. When services fall short, there must be consequences.”
