Navigating new child-safety reforms: What early learning providers need to know

The Sector recently sat down with WorkPro founder Tania Evans to discuss how the latest child-safety reforms are reshaping workforce compliance across early childhood education and care (ECEC) services. From strengthened Working With Children Check (WWCC) systems to the embedding of child-safe cultures, the regulatory shift is significant, and services are being called to respond.

Tania outlines what providers need to know, how to prepare, and where the biggest challenges lie.

Fiona: What do the Working With Children Check reforms mean for ECEC services?

Tania: The upcoming WWCC reforms, particularly pilots for continuous monitoring, enhanced information-sharing, and faster cross-jurisdiction notifications, represent a major shift for centres. Providers will be expected to maintain up-to-date visibility over the status of every employee, contractor, volunteer, or relief educator engaged in child-related work.

Key implications for centres include:

• More proactive workforce screening
• Tighter recruitment practices
• Higher expectations around governance  
• Improved consistency across jurisdictions

Automated platforms can be implemented to reduce administrative burden and strengthen compliance confidence during assessment and rating visits. For example, WorkPro automates WWCC verification, re-checking and expiry management; stores all evidence securely; and provides dashboards and reporting designed to withstand regulatory scrutiny.

Fiona: What are the operational challenges smaller centres are facing as regulatory expectations increase?

Tania: Smaller childcare services face significant pressures as compliance requirements grow.

Common challenges include administrative burden, manual systems due to budget and resourcing constraints, and workforce shortages. These limitations make it difficult to keep up with regulatory change. These SMEs benefit from leveraging technology solutions such as WorkPro to consolidate WWCC management, identity verification, qualifications, policy management, and training in one platform, reducing risk and improving efficiency.

Fiona: How can centres prepare for continuous monitoring and faster notification requirements?

Tania: Continuous monitoring means that regulators may notify a centre of a clearance change far more rapidly than before. Services must be ready to respond with clear processes, assigned responsibilities, and consistent documentation.

Preparation includes:

• Centralised WWCC data  
• Documented escalation procedures  
• Accurate recruitment documentation  
• Automated workflows  
• Notification requirements for contractors and volunteers  

Fiona: How can services embed a child-safe culture in line with the updated ACECQA guidance?

Tania: Embedding a child-safe culture aligns with the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations and ACECQA’s strengthened guidance. This includes delivering consistent child-safety training, managing policy acknowledgements, and storing all compliance documentation in a central digital profile with automated reminders. Other key strategies include:

• Robust recruitment and screening
• Clear policies and reporting pathways
• Strong leadership and governance
• Safe physical and online environments

Goals in 2026 is to create a compliance framework that’s proactive, sustainable and able to withstand scrutiny.

Tania Evans is the founder of WorkPro, an end-to-end workforce compliance and recruitment platform. With a background in marketing and a keen eye for identifying industry challenges, Tania launched WorkPro in 2007 after noticing the time-consuming and inefficient practice of manual form completion by job seekers. This propelled her to establish WorkPro, a groundbreaking workplace compliance platform.

Under Tania’s leadership, WorkPro has achieved several industry firsts, including becoming accredited by CrimTrac (now ACIC) for police checks in 2010. In 2011, WorkPro combined essential checks and eLearning modules, creating a comprehensive solution for streamlined safety induction and onboarding. 

About WorkPro:

WorkPro is Australia and New Zealand’s leading workforce compliance and digital credentialing platform, supporting early learning providers with automated WWCC management, workforce screening, eLearning, digital identity verification, and audit-ready workforce records.

For more information about WorkPro’s compliance tools for early learning providers, visit www.workpro.com.au.