ACT MP calls for urgent reform in early childhood sector following document release

Thousands of government documents expose serious regulatory failures in ACT early childhood education and care.

A fresh call for wide-reaching reforms in the ACT’s early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector has been issued by Independent Member for Kurrajong Thomas Emerson MLA, following the public release of thousands of government documents. The documents, tabled in June 2025, reveal regulatory inaction and system loopholes that, according to Mr Emerson, have placed children at risk.

The revelations have prompted Mr Emerson to outline an initial five-point reform agenda aimed at strengthening child safety, improving regulatory oversight, and rebalancing sector dynamics in the Australian Capital Territory.

Five key reforms proposed

Mr Emerson has signalled his intention to formally request that the ACT Government:

• Revise the ACT’s Early Childhood Strategy to place child safety at its core;
• Reform land use planning laws to limit unchecked corporatisation and support community-managed services;
• Close critical loopholes in the Working With Vulnerable People (WWVP) scheme;
• Increase funding and staffing for the regulator to enhance its compliance and enforcement powers; and
• Introduce financial penalties for serious or repeated safety breaches in ECEC services.

“These reforms are uncontroversial. They’re things we should be doing already,” Mr Emerson said.

He criticised what he described as a "light-handed" approach by the ACT’s early childhood regulator, Children’s Education and Care Assurance (CECA), noting that the agency has not issued a single fine in the past five years, despite documented incidents of abuse and neglect.

“It’s unsurprising that safety issues have persisted when the regulator has been so light-handed,” Mr Emerson said. “Caution notices and second chances might be appropriate at times, but particularly egregious incidents and repeated failures must be met with genuine consequences.”

The MP argued that the ACT’s current early childhood policy framework lacks a meaningful commitment to safety, referencing the existing strategy’s single mention of the issue, without actionable steps.

The proposed reforms were developed over six months of consultation with sector professionals and families. Mr Emerson is now seeking wider community input via an online survey, open until Monday 9 February 2026.

He said further reforms will be shaped by this feedback and brought before the ACT Legislative Assembly.

“Families deserve a system where the best practices of leading services are not the exception, but the rule,” he said.

“It’s time to take the steps necessary to actually put children first, without exception.”