New federal legislation strengthens safety in early childhood education and care

The Early Childhood Education and Care (Strengthening Regulation of Early Education) Bill 2025 has passed federal parliament, marking a significant step forward in reinforcing child safety across the ECEC sector.

From 1 January 2026, child safety provisions will be explicitly embedded in the National Quality Standard. Key reforms effective 1 September 2025 include:

• Mandatory 24‑hour reporting of allegations, complaints or incidents of physical or sexual abuse (replacing the current seven‑day reporting window)
• Banning vapes across all services
• Tightening digital policy requirements, including permitted use of devices and CCTV practices
• New rules linking eligibility for the Child Care Subsidy (CCS) to provider performance on safety and compliance, including the ability to suspend or cancel funding approval 

These reforms follow abuse allegations in Victoria and New South Wales, prompting calls for more comprehensive sector reforms.

Australia’s largest private provider G8 Education has welcomed the bill as an important first step toward improving safety and quality across all centres. CEO Pejman Okhovat affirmed ongoing collaboration with governments to ensure consistent national standards and urged development of:

• A national register of early childhood educators’ employment history
• Expanded Working with Children Check harmonisation
• Greater regulatory alignment across state lines 

The AEU welcomed the legislation as a first, necessary step in responding to recent sector failures. Deputy Federal President Meredith Peace emphasised the need for deeper reforms, including:

• Ending the practice of “under the roof” staffing ratios
• Raising the threshold for quality standards
• Investing in workforce qualifications, pay and support
• Ensuring regulatory authorities are properly funded and empowered to enforce standards consistently

IEU NSW/ACT also endorsed the legislation to cut CCS funding to providers repeatedly failing safety requirements . Branch Secretary Carol Matthews called for:

• Mandatory training for all staff
• Safe reporting mechanisms for concerns
• A national register of educators and a unified Working with Children Check system
  She also stressed that while CCTV has a role, it cannot replace well‑staffed centres with well‑trained, fairly remunerated educators .

SNAICC welcomed the bill but warned against over‑burdening educators with administrative regulations without tackling root causes.
They called for real reform, such as tackling workforce shortages, rebalancing the profit‑driven funding model, and supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community‑controlled early years services, which already deliver culturally safe and high‑quality care .

The passage of the 2025 Bill marks a turning point in Australia’s response to child safety failures within the ECEC sector. With bipartisan support and dozens of centre reforms already underway, the focus now shifts to ensuring these are backed by deep, sustained reform. The challenge ahead will be to embed safety and quality into the system, not just through regulation, but through meaningful investment, workforce empowerment and equitable access.