New Early Learning Safety Measures Welcome, But No Substitute for Systemic Reform

New national safety measures to protect children in early learning and childcare centres are welcome but fall short of the systemic reform that’s needed to ensure children’s safety and wellbeing, leading parent advocacy group The Parenthood said today.

The measures, which come into effect on 1 September 2025, include the tightening of rules around digital technology and CCTV use, shorten the reporting timeframe for abuse or mistreatment of children and ban vaping in centres.

While necessary, these changes fail to address the structural driver of many safety concerns in early learning: the growing dominance of for-profit providers.

“There is no question that monitoring educator behaviour is an important safeguard,” said Georgie Dent, Executive Director of The Parenthood. “But we must also confront the underlying reality — that the current system enables business models where profit can be prioritised over children’s safety and wellbeing.”

“Quality of care cannot be guaranteed in a market where 70 per cent of services are privately owned and where regulation is often inconsistent. Surveillance alone will not protect children in a system that too often rewards cost-cutting and corner-cutting.”

The Parenthood is calling for the establishment of an independent Early Childhood Commission to regulate the quality and consistency of early learning and care services across Australia and to ensure that providers are held to the highest standards.

“Instead of relying on cameras to keep children safe, we need to ensure that every service can offer the high-quality, properly-regulated early learning and care that children, families and educators deserve,” said Dent. “This is essential if we are serious about building a universal early learning system in Australia.”

The call comes as new data published on Friday revealed a concerning rise in the number of children starting school developmentally vulnerable compared to 2009 — evidence of the consequences of fragmented and limited access to high-quality early childhood education and care.

“There is clear and growing demand for a universal, high-quality, safe early learning system in Australia — and we are closer than ever to making it a reality.

“But safety, quality, access and affordability must all go hand in hand. Band-aid fixes won’t deliver the kind of early learning system that every child and every family in this country needs," said Ms Dent.