The 2025 financial year has marked a complex and defining period for Australia’s early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector. The FY25 results and strategic repositioning of G8 Education, Australia’s largest ASX-listed provider, operating 395 centres, offer a clear signal to commercial investors, approved providers, large operators and policymakers about the pressures reshaping the operating environment.
In every early childhood setting, culture and language are far more than “add‑ons” to programming, they are powerful foundations for identity, connection and inclusion. What children experience in their early years shapes how they see themselves, how they learn, and how they relate to others. Yet too often, cultural celebration is treated as a token activity rather than a lived, everyday part of learning.
More than 100 regulatory officers conducted unannounced inspections at over 220 early learning services in a single-day compliance operation, as the NSW Early Learning Commission intensifies oversight across the sector.
In February the Western Australian State Administrative Tribunal handled two separate disciplinary proceedings brought by the CEO of the Department of Communities against out-of-school-hours care (OSHC) providers. Both cases highlight critical failures in active supervision, particularly concerning highly vulnerable children diagnosed with autism who managed to wander away from their respective services unnoticed.
Regulation 168 of the Education and Care Services National Regulations is not a policy checklist. For approved providers and nominated supervisors, it is a test of governance capability, risk oversight and leadership influence. The critical question is not whether policies exist, it is whether leadership understands how to review, embed and monitor them effectively.
The Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) sector is compliance-rich, policy-driven, and heavily regulated. We have clear serious incident notification requirements, mandated emergency evacuation rehearsals, and defined governance responsibilities under the National Quality Framework (NQF). Yet, a critical question remains: are we actually crisis-ready?
Sparrow Nest Early Learning No 4 Pty Ltd, the approved provider of Sparrow Early Learning Yarrabilba, has been fined $20,000 following a successful prosecution relating to supervision and child safety failures.
Tasmanian Labor has unveiled a major early childhood reform package centred on five-day kindergarten in public schools and universal pre-school access for three-year-olds, positioning early learning as both an education and workforce participation priority.
The Australian Childhood Foundation has welcomed the Victorian Government’s decision to re-fund the Amplify program, following evaluation findings that demonstrate strong outcomes for children and young people experiencing family violence and homelessness. The first-of-its-kind pilot, co-designed with young people with lived experience and delivered by Melbourne City Mission, provides dedicated support to unaccompanied help-seeking children and young people navigating trauma without a protective parent.
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