WA Government announces new measures to strengthen child safety in early learning services

The Cook Government has announced a suite of reforms aimed at bolstering child safety across Western Australia’s early childhood education and care (ECEC) services, following the tabling of a new report in State Parliament this week.

The report ordered by Early Childhood Minister Sabine Winton and conducted by the Department of Communities’ Education and Care Regulatory Unit (ECRU) reviewed WA’s current regulatory framework and identified opportunities to further strengthen protections for children in early learning settings.

While the review found that WA’s existing framework is comparatively robust, it made five key recommendations covering legislation, sector quality controls, training, and alignment with national policies.

In response, the Cook Government will move to introduce several immediate measures, including:

• Banning the use of personal mobile phones in early childhood services to reduce risks to child safety, with consultation to be undertaken to ensure reasonable adjustments for workers with caring responsibilities or health conditions.
• Boosting compliance efforts with a $1.1 million investment to increase the capacity of the ECRU.
• Progressing the Education and Care Services National Law Application Bill to ensure WA’s legislation remains aligned with the rest of Australia and can adopt national reforms in a timely way.

The Government also noted recent steps already taken, such as the expansion of mandatory reporter groups to include early childhood educators, strengthening accountability across the sector.

Minister for Early Childhood Education Sabine Winton said the measures reflected the Government’s strong commitment to ensuring child safety remains central to WA’s ECEC system.

“It is important to acknowledge that there are thousands of incredible early childhood educators that work hard each and every day to nurture children and support families,” Minister Winton said.

“This review should give confidence to families that we are taking their concerns about safety in early childhood education and care settings seriously; every child deserves to be safe.”

She stressed that while WA already has a strong framework, the Government would continue to pursue improvements to legislation, compliance, and sector support.

“The measures announced today are about stronger legislation, stronger compliance, and a stronger stance on child safety,” she said.

“As Early Childhood Minister, I am strongly committed to advocating for the progression of important child safety reforms to the Federal Government.”

The alignment of WA’s Education and Care Services legislation with the Education and Care Services National Law is considered a significant step in ensuring national consistency. Once enacted, the Application Bill will allow WA to more quickly apply modifications made under the National Quality Framework (NQF), which underpins regulation across all Australian jurisdictions.

The Cook Government will continue to work through the report’s recommendations in consultation with sector stakeholders, unions, and families. The legal responsibility for ensuring child safety remains with approved providers, with enforcement actions taken where services fail to meet their obligations.

“While the review found that Western Australia has a comparatively robust regulatory framework, we will continue to look at ways to strengthen our regulation of the sector,” Minister Winton said.

The Review of Western Australia’s regulatory approach to child safety in Early Childhood Education Settings is available on the Department of Communities website.

Read the full media release via the WA Government website: New measures to bolster child safety in early learning services.