Parliamentary Inquiry into NSW's early childhood education and care

March 21st, 2025 Latest News

the safety, health and wellbeing of children in ECEC services
the quality of ECEC services and the educational and developmental outcomes for children attending ECEC services
the safety, pay and conditions of workers within the ECEC sector
the effectiveness of the regulatory framework for the ECEC sector as applied in New South Wales
the effectiveness of the NSW ECEC Regulatory Authority
the collection, evaluation and publication of reliable data in relation to ECEC services and the level of public knowledge and access to information made available about each ECEC service
the availability and affordability of quality training institutions for early childhood education qualifications
the composition of the ECEC sector and the impact of government funding on the type and quality of services
the experiences of children with disability, and their parents and carers, in ECEC services, and
any other related matters.

Submissions are due 30 May 2025, with public hearings to be held during August-October 2025.

NOTE: This NSW Parliamentary Inquiry is separate to the NSW Government's Independent Review into the NSW Regulatory Authority's early childhood education and care work.

ACA NSW welcomes this parliamentary inquiry due to our long-held concerns about the unbelievable number of breaches in NSW while in the context of:

91% of services with quality rating either Meeting or exceeding the National Quality Standards;
enforcements and actions representing less than 0.2% of breaches;
NSW ECEC services subjected to higher requirements than the National Quality Standards (as confirmed by the NSW Productivity Commissioner);
concerns raised by both the NSW Department of Education and the Federal Minister for Education that 40% and 45% (respectively) of children were not developmentally on track upon starting school;