The national reforms do not automatically apply in NSW unless adopted through regulation. Before adopting them, the NSW Early Learning Commission has carefully reviewed which amendments - whether through the National Law and Regulations or the NSW Reform Act - provide the strongest safeguards for children in early childhood education and care (ECEC) and where national consistency is essential.

Key national reforms that NSW is adopting commencing 27 February include:

• Mandatory national child safety training which all staff members and volunteers, including students, will be required to complete. The mandatory national child safety training does not replace other child protection training requirements already in place.
  

• National Early Childhood Worker Register which is hosted in the National Quality Agenda IT System (NQAITS). Approved providers will have one month from 27 February to update the register with details of their current workforce. They must also update the register within 14 days of a worker being employed, engaged or appointed, and within 14 days of becoming aware of any change to information.
• Requirement to notify acquisition of approved provider which requires an approved provider that is a body corporate to notify the regulatory authority that granted its approval (in NSW, the NSW Early Learning Commission) if 50% or more of its ownership or voting rights are acquired. This notification must be made within 7 days of acquisition.
• Directions to complete training which gives the NSW Early Learning Commission the power to direct nominated supervisors, staff or volunteers to undertake specific training related to compliance issues. This measure aims to prevent poor behaviour from escalating and support skill development and practice improvement.
• Restrictions on the use of personal devices capable of taking, storing and transmitting images and videos. While NSW will adopt the national reform in this space, NSW specific restrictions will remain in place and, in some respects, extend beyond the national reform.

There are several national child safety reforms that will not apply in NSW. These will instead be covered by provisions in the NSW Reform Act. These provisions closely align with the national reforms, however go further in safeguarding children.

• Paramount consideration which states that the rights and best interests of the child must prevail over any other obligations or interests. While a similar provision will exist under the national reforms, in NSW the paramount consideration also applies to the NSW Early Learning Commission.

• Provisions that make it an offence to subject a child being educated and cared for by an ECEC service to inappropriate conduct continue to apply in NSW services and include higher penalties for large providers.

• Powers of entry for assessment and investigations in family day care, which allow the Commission to enter and inspect areas of a family day care service premises beyond the part of the residence where education and care is provided. While these new powers will apply both nationally and in NSW, the NSW provisions will allow authorised officers to enter these additional areas without requiring the occupier's consent.

• Regulatory powers now in place allow the Commission to impose supervision and suspension orders on educators or staff who have breached any provision of the law.

The safety and wellbeing of children is the NSW Early Learning Commission’s paramount consideration. For this reason, we will always look at which amendments and requirements, whether national or NSW-specific, will provide the strongest safeguarding measures for children in ECEC in NSW.

The Commission is working closely with ACECQA to prepare information to support providers and their services to understand how national reforms apply in NSW, and where NSW-specific provisions will take effect.

The Guide to the National Quality Framework (NQF) will be updated with annotations highlighting where national reforms are replaced by NSW-specific provisions. These changes will be marked by the NSW waratah. A separate NSW addendum will also be available and must be read in conjunction with the Guide to the NQF.

No, the new national child safety training does not replace mandatory reporting or other child protection training requirements that currently exist in NSW under government protocol. Separate child protection training requirements already exist and will continue for nominated supervisors, persons in day-to-day charge and family day care coordinators.

Further information on the child protection training requirements in NSW can be found on our child protection and child safety training requirements webpage.

Child safety training

The national child safety training is being developed for all staff, volunteers and students who work in approved ECEC services that are regulated under the National Quality Framework. This includes:

• persons with management or control

• nominated supervisors
  

• persons in day-to-day charge

• family day care Educators

• other staff, volunteers and students.

All staff members of a service are required to do the training, including staff that do not work directly with children, such as administrative staff.

Students who are working towards an ECEC qualification (Cert III or Diploma) and going on a placement must also complete the training.

Parent management committees will also be required to complete the training if they are persons with management control.

For more information, visit Mandatory national child safety training - Department of Education, Australian Government.

Child protection training requirements

In NSW, the following people must complete a child protection course required by Government protocol in accordance with Section 162A of the Children (Education and Care Services) National Law:

• nominated supervisors

• persons in day-to-day charge

• family day care coordinators.
  

For more information, visit Child protection and child safety training requirements.

ECEC providers can access the following to support their staff to complete the child safety training:

• Child Care Subsidy approved providers may close services early to support staff to complete the training.

• Wage subsidy grants which will prioritise small to medium providers.

Find out more about the support available.

The child safety training will include Foundation and Advanced training modules.

The Foundation training will be available from 27 February 2026, and must be completed by 27 August 2026 (within 6 months of the training being made available).

After the 6-month transition period, new staff must complete the Foundation training modules within 14 days of being employed, engaged or appointed at the service or before they start working directly with children at the service (whichever is earlier).

Certain people must also complete advanced training. Advanced training will be available from July 2026.

The training must be completed every 2 years.

The training is free and will be available on Geccko, the Australian Government Department of Education’s online learning platform for the ECEC sector.

A downloadable certificate of completion will be available through Geccko once you complete the training.

Register for a Geccko account.

This restriction of personal devices applies to anyone ‘working directly with children’. This means any person who is physically present with a child or children and employed, engaged or appointed to provide education and care to the child or children.

The general rule is that a person cannot wear a smartwatch. Most are capable of taking, storing or sending/receiving an image or video even if those functions are switched off or disabled.  

Devices that cannot capture, store, or transmit images or videos, such as basic Fitbits or step counters, are generally permitted but should be reviewed to ensure they have no camera or communication features where an image can be received or transmitted. 

The restriction does not apply to children. However, approved providers, service leaders and educators are responsible for creating and maintaining a child safe culture. If the use of devices by children is an issue in your service, it should be addressed in your policies on the safe use of digital technologies and online environments as well as in your risk management procedures.

The restriction does not extend to parents or carers. However, approved providers should review service policies and procedures to ensure child safety remains a priority and that risks of harm to children are minimised while families or other people who are not employed or engaged by the service are onsite.  For example, services may develop policies, procedures and risk assessments regarding photography at events, resulting in service-specific practices or restrictions. 

The restriction does not apply to people who do not work directly with children and are not providing education and care. However, services must still remain vigilant and implement policies and procedures on the safe use of digital technologies, online environments and supervision.

Services should manage this through their risk management processes to confirm a device is:

• issued by their business or institution

• used only for work purposes (not personal use)

This may include a verbal confirmation and/or recording this information in their visitor register.

In limited situations, approved providers may grant written authorisation for a staff member to possess or control a personal device capable of taking, storing and transmitting images and videos while working directly with children.

Examples of prescribed circumstances include:

• when a service-supplied or service-authorised device stops working and another device is temporarily needed to support the provision of education and care

• for the purposes of providing support or assistance with a person’s disability or health needs

• for the purposes of communication with a family member

• for use in an emergency.

Use of the device must be consistent with the service’s policies and approved provider authorisation and approved providers must review, revoke and record authorisations as required.

Existing authorisations will remain valid but should be reviewed to ensure they meet requirements under the National Law provisions and Regulator Direction. Under the the Regulator Direction, approved providers must ensure they review any written authorisations every 3 months.

Visit the restriction on personal devices webpage for more information on authorisations including record keeping requirements.

Only a service-supplied device or service-authorised device can be used in the provision of education and care to children. Personal devices should not be in a person’s control in family day care, except in a limited number of circumstances outlined in the Regulator Direction.

Service-supplied or service-authorised devices should be used during excursions.

Services should consider whether excursion planning, staffing arrangements and access to the service devices are sufficient to meet safety and education and care requirements without routine reliance on personal devices.

During excursions, personal devices may only be used if they are necessary for the safety of children or to support the education and care of children.

For more information on the restriction of personal devices in ECEC refer to our compliance in focus article.

If parents are volunteering at your service to work directly with children, they are required to have a WWCC clearance. For information on who needs a WWCC visit our child safe recruitment and employment practices page.

Individuals under 18 years old are exempt from holding a WWCC. This means there is no restriction on engaging a staff member, volunteer or student who is under 18 years old in a service.

However, staff turning 18 should apply for a WWCC from 17 and 9 months which allows time for them to apply and receive their outcome before they turn 18.

Under the Education and Care Services National Regulations, educators under the age of 18 must not work alone at a service and must be adequately supervised by an educator over the age of 18 at all times (regulation 120). Persons in day-to-day charge, nominated supervisors and family day care educators and assistants must be at least 18 years old (regulation 117B, 117C and 119).

Visitors who are not working directly with children to provide education and care are generally not required to have a WWCC clearance. However, services should have risk management processes in place around visitors that may include:

• recording the visit in the service’s visitor register

• ensuring the individual is not left alone with children.

Third party professionals, such as occupational therapists or community visitors working directly with children to provide an educational experience should have a WWCC clearance through their employer.

If a third party professional is going to be working directly with children then the provider must have verified their WWCC beforehand. Supervision of the third party must be managed through the service’s risk management and child safe environment policies.

Visits should be managed by your service’s risk management processes. This may include:

• recording the visit in the service’s visitor register
  

• ensuring the individual is not left alone with children.

Services may develop policies, procedures and risk assessments regarding third party professionals, resulting in service-specific child safe practices. 

For more information, please visit our child safe recruitment and employment practices webpage.

The new requirements for services to make reasonable enquiries about a person’s suitability before and during employment, including conducting checks for suspension notices, supervision notices, prohibition notices and enforceable undertakings (Regulation 168(2)(i)(ia) and (i)(ib)) will come into effect when the commencement date is announced by the Commission.

In the meantime, approved providers and services are encouraged to prepare for these requirements by ensuring their staffing policies and procedures outline how they verify a person’s suitability before employment or engagement and continue monitoring it throughout their employment.

There are some provisions now in effect which apply to approved providers, services and staff:

• Under Section 174AA, educators and staff must notify their approved provider within 72 hours if they receive a negative notice or a change to their accreditation or registration, including if their Working with Children Check clearance has been refused or cancelled.

• Under Section174AB, approved providers must notify the NSW Early Learning Commission if they become aware that an educator or staff member at their service has received a negative notice, a change to their Working with Children Check (WWCC) status or a change to their teacher accreditation or registration.

• Under Section 188A, penalties apply where false or misleading information is provided to an approved provider, service or recruitment agency in relation to a relevant notice. This includes suspension notices, supervision notices and prohibition notices.

Learn more at Compliance focus – child safe recruitment policies and ongoing employment practices.

Approved providers who engage educators and staff through recruitment agencies must still verify their WWCC clearances on the NSW Office of the Children’s Guardian’s online portal and check for any prohibition notices on the NQAITS portal – even if the agency claims they have checked this already.

For more information on the WWCC legal obligations for employers visit the OCG website.

Staffing policies and procedures must outline how your service conducts reasonable enquiries to verify a person’s suitability before and during employment or engagement.

Requesting a National Police Check (i.e. a national criminal history check) is an additional screening measure for prospective staff that services can use to complement the WWCC.

Requesting a National Police Check for current staff could also be used to demonstrate how you continually monitor the suitability of staff to work with children - along with other measures such as providing ongoing training and opportunities for professional learning.

Find out more.

Child safe recruitment practices require approved providers to thoroughly assess a person’s suitability to work with children. This includes obtaining referee information from previous employers, particularly where those employers have directly supervised the applicant in an education and care setting.

Verbal references are the most effective way to seek information from referees about a person’s suitability to work with children. Speaking directly with referees allows providers to ask follow-up questions, clarify responses and better assess any risks, rather than relying solely on written references.

Your staffing policies and procedures should set timeframes for monitoring staff members’ suitability, including the currency and validity of their WWCC clearance.

Services regulated under the Children (Education and Care Services) Supplementary Provisions Act 2011 are not yet required to use the National Early Childhood Worker Register. At this stage the register can only be accessed on the National Quality Agenda IT System (NQAITS), and therefore is currently inaccessible for these services.

Further information about the Worker Register including what details need to be entered and updated is available through the following links:

• National Early Childhood Worker Register | ACECQA
• National Early Childhood Worker Register Information Brochure (ACECQA)
• National Early Childhood Worker Register Operational Policy Guide (ACECQA)
• NQA ITS Help Centre

As part of new legislative requirements for child safe environments, services must update their child safe environment policies and procedures to include:

• a clear commitment that children’s safety, welfare and wellbeing are paramount in all decisions and actions that concern a particular child

• how the service will meet child protection training requirements

• processes for maintaining a register of child protection concerns
  

• clear reporting steps and responsibilities, ensuring staff are familiar with and can easily access the reporting decision tree (currently known as the NSW Early Learning Commission’s Reporting Guide)

• how the service will conduct regular, service-specific child protection risk assessments

• how attendance records and daily practices will be used to ensure all children are accounted for throughout the day.

For more information on these policy requirements, refer to our compliance article on child safe environments.

Each service must establish and maintain a register to record child protection concerns. This register is intended to support consistent documentation, monitoring, and appropriate follow-up of matters relating to the safety and wellbeing of children.

The Commission has developed a template register that services may choose to use or adapt for this purpose.