The NSW Government has established a new, independent early learning regulator, the NSW Early Learning Commission.

From Monday, the commission will provide greater transparency for families and issue tougher penalties for providers who breach standards.

The state government will invest a further $55 million to fund more than 60 additional frontline staff to conduct compliance checks, the majority of which will continue to be unannounced.

In late October, the NSW Parliament passed nation-leading laws to improve transparency for families, better protect children, and increase penalties for poor quality providers.

More than 30 nation-leading reforms were introduced under the amended Children (Education and Care Services National Law Application) Act 2010, with services and staff now legally required to prioritise children’s safety and wellbeing above all other considerations.

Since the legislation took effect, more than 550 services have been inspected to ensure their short-form compliance and quality ratings histories are clearly displayed for families.

Only three of the services inspected did not meet requirements, and the Commission has taken compliance action to ensure these issues were immediately addressed.

The Commission will continue to conduct unannounced checks on services to confirm they adhere to the new requirements and will act if services fail to display their information.

In the most serious cases, providers who fail to comply face prosecution and a maximum court-imposed penalty of $51,600, or $154,800 in the case of a large provider.

The Commission will also take immediate compliance action against educators or services who fail to comply with the ban on personal digital devices inside early learning services, which came into effect with the new laws. 

Other elements of the new laws, include:

• Making it an offence for people providing or working in early childhood education and care to subject a child to inappropriate conduct – an ‘anti-grooming’ offence.
• Increasing maximum penalties for large providers by up to 900 per cent, and up to 300 per cent for all other providers.
• Allowing the Commission to suspend or revoke quality ratings during or after investigations.
• Allowing the Commission to suspend or impose supervision orders on individual educators.
• Strengthening whistleblower protections.

Extending the prosecution period for offences - NSW will now measure the limitation period from when the Commission is notified, rather than the date of the offence.

Acting Minister for Education and Early Learning Courtney Houssos said, “The Minns Labor Government’s nation-leading reforms ensure the new Early Learning Commission is independent, empowered, and focused solely on protecting children—with effective tools to fight dodgy operators. 

“Parents deserve to know that when they leave their children at an early learning centre, their child will be cared for, respected, and nurtured.

“Our government delivered the biggest early learning safety reforms in 15 years, after an independent review commissioned by the Deputy Premier Prue Car, and it’s continuing to work with the sector to rebuild parent’s confidence.

“If educators or operators break the rules and violate the trust of families, the public has a right to know.”