QLD ECEC sector report: Regulatory review highlights growth, high quality, and increase in incident reporting 

Queensland’s Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) sector continues its rapid expansion while generally maintaining high standards of quality, according to regulatory data covering the 2023–2024 and 2024–2025 Financial Years (FYs). The data reveals sustained growth, significant escalation in regulatory activity, and a 47% surge in notifications and complaints.

 

The ECEC sector continues its consistent trajectory of growth, increasing capacity for Queensland children year-on-year.

 

The number of regulated ECEC services in Queensland has grown steadily year on year, maintaining a consistent 1 per cent growth rate over the past two financial years.

  

• As at 30 June 2024, there were 3,308 regulated ECEC services in operation, a 1 per cent increase from the previous year.
• As at 30 June 2025, this rose to 3,344 services, again, a 1 per cent increase year-on-year.

 

Centre-based service capacity has also expanded significantly. The number of approved places increased by 4 per cent in both years.

 

• As at 30 June 2024, Queensland services were approved to deliver 254,613 centre-based places.
• By 30 June 2025, this figure had grown to 263,736 up 4 per cent from the previous year.

 

This sustained growth in places highlights continued demand for early learning, particularly in high-growth regions across the state.

 

While overall capacity continues to grow, the number of newly approved services has declined.

 

• In the 2023–2024 financial year, 46 additional services were approved.
• In the 2024–2025 financial year, only 36 new approvals were recorded.

 

This reflects a broader trend of stabilising demand for new services following a spike in applications during the COVID-19 recovery phase. For context, the Regulatory Authority received 130 applications for service approval in 2023–24 with a 7 per cent decrease from the record number submitted in 2021–2022.

 

Queensland services remained committed to delivering high-quality education and care.

 

 

While most Queensland ECEC services maintain strong performance against the National Quality Standard (NQS), regulatory data points to ongoing challenges in key areas of quality.

 

Across both the 2023–2024 and 2024–2025 financial years, Quality Area 1 Educational program and practice and Quality Area 7 Governance and leadership remained the least met standards. These areas are essential to achieving high-quality outcomes for children and ensuring strong organisational accountability and leadership within services.

 

In response, the Regulatory Authority has committed to prioritising support for educational leadership over the coming years, with a focus on improving outcomes in curriculum implementation and leadership capability.

 

The number of services assessed and rated increased from 605 in 2023–2024 to 813 in 2024–2025, reflecting the scale of the Authority’s quality assurance efforts. This increase in ratings occurred alongside a rise in monitoring visits, which grew from 3,942 to 4,212, reinforcing the Authority’s commitment to ensuring consistency and continuous improvement across the sector.

 

Reflecting the sector’s growth, the Regulatory Authority increased its monitoring and faced a significant rise in inbound activity over the two-year period.

 

 

The data reveals a growing early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector in Queensland, alongside intensified regulatory activity and increasing complexity in compliance demands.

 

The 2024–2025 financial year marked a period of both expansion and scrutiny, as reflected in key regulatory indicators.

 

Monitoring visits increased from 3,942 to 4,212, lifting the average number of visits per service from 1.2 to 1.3. This reflects the Regulatory Authority’s increased presence in services and a sustained commitment to assessing compliance on site.

 

Total notifications and complaints rose by 47 per cent, from 9,755 to 14,292. This sharp rise was largely driven by a spike in incident notifications, which climbed from 8,057 to 12,059 following service closures caused by Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred in South East Queensland.

 

 

Direct complaints continued their year-on-year increase, up 11 per cent from 1,240 to 1,376, reflecting the growing size and complexity of the sector and the associated rise in service-level concerns.

 

While regulatory inputs increased, statutory enforcement actions declined, from 940 in 2023–2024 to 825 in 2024–2025. The Regulatory Authority has attributed this to a strategic focus on risk-based regulation, prioritising early intervention and collaborative resolution where appropriate.

 

Importantly, the rise in notifications and complaints also identifies that Queensland approved providers continue to meet their reporting obligations, engaging proactively with the Regulatory Authority in response to incidents and potential non-compliance.

 

In both financial years, all approved ECEC services received at least one monitoring visit. The high level of notifications confirms that Queensland approved providers generally take their significant reporting obligations seriously.

 

While the total number of statutory enforcement actions decreased in the 2024–2025 FY, the frequency of breaches related to core safety and child protection rose significantly.

 

Data shows that breaches of the National Law related to child safety increased considerably between the two years, signalling ongoing areas of regulatory concern that are receiving proactive attention.

 

 

The data highlights a rise in breaches relating to direct interactions with children and core safety obligations, even as statutory enforcement actions overall have declined.

 

The three most breached provisions of the National Law in 2024–2025 were:

 

1. Inadequate supervision (s165):
   This remains the most commonly breached provision. Breaches rose sharply from 620 in 2023–2024 to 841 in 2024–2025.
2. Inappropriate discipline (s166):
   This provision experienced the largest proportional increase, rising from 242 breaches to 388. The Regulatory Authority noted this sharp escalation as a continuing area of concern, prompting proactive attention.
3. Failure to protect from harm and hazards (s167):
   Breaches of this critical safety provision increased from 478 to 515 over the same period.

 

These three provisions consistently ranked among the top five most breached sections of the National Law in both financial years, underlining ongoing challenges in ensuring the safety and wellbeing of children in early learning environments.

 

Despite these increases, the total number of statutory enforcement actions issued by the Regulatory Authority decreased from 940 to 825 between the 2023–2024 and 2024–2025 financial years.

 

Conversely, compliance relating to the physical environment improved significantly.

 

 

Data indicates services are improving in maintaining safe physical environments, while challenges are growing in the area of operational and procedural compliance.

 

A comparison of the most commonly breached provisions of the National Regulations across the 2023–2024 and 2024–2025 financial years reveals shifting patterns of non-compliance.

 

Key changes in breach trends:

 

1. r103 – Premises, furniture and equipment to be safe, clean and in good repair
   Breaches of this regulation fell from 850 in 2023–2024 to 541 in 2024–2025 — a significant decrease. The Regulatory Authority credits its collaborative approach with providers in supporting quick resolution of minor or technical issues, such as cleanliness and maintenance. Despite the drop, r103 remained the most frequently breached regulation in both years, indicating that it continues to require close attention.
2. r170 – Policies and procedures to be followed
   Breaches of this operational requirement rose markedly, from 268 to 368. This increase suggests growing challenges for services in ensuring staff consistently implement and adhere to approved policies and procedures, particularly in areas affecting quality and compliance documentation.
3. r97 – Emergency and evacuation procedures
   There was a moderate reduction in breaches of emergency preparedness requirements, which decreased from 463to 427. While the total remains high, the downward trend signals a marginal improvement in compliance with this critical safety provision under Quality Area 2 (Children’s health and safety).

 

While improvements in physical standards are evident, the increase in breaches of procedural requirements, particularly r170, points to a broader compliance challenge around the operational implementation of regulatory obligations.

 

At the same time, serious National Law breaches,  including inadequate supervision and inappropriate discipline have continued to rise. 

 

While the data confirms widespread engagement with quality standards across the sector, recurring issues in areas such as supervision, discipline and governance indicate opportunities for further improvement. The Regulatory Authority’s continued focus on monitoring and targeted support reflects an ongoing effort to strengthen compliance and support positive outcomes for children and families.

 

The full report, including detailed regulatory data, is available on their website.