What are the Independent Review's 12 recommendations?

June 27th, 2025 Latest News

The 166-page Wheeler Report is the first result of the Independent Review of the NSW Regulatory Authority as called for by the NSW Deputy Premier and Minister for Education & Early Learning, the Hon Prue Car MP. It is understood that Mr Wheeler has also been asked to continue with the NSW Department of Education.

The acting NSW Minister for Education & Early Learning, the Hon Courtney Houssos MLC, has been reported as saying that "The Wheeler report has made 12 recommendations and the government will accept those recommendations in principle."

Members will recall the NSW Deputy Premier's announcement for an independent review was after five successive years of national records of breaches/non-compliances in NSW being greater than the rest of Australia combined and the extraordinary Four Corners child safety expose.

ACA NSW will consult members about the 12 recommendations through its Members-Only Meetings, Regional Meetings and Inner Circle evenings, ACA NSW will share the feedback about the Wheeler Report with the NSW Government by 30 September 2025.

In the meantime, the following provides some commentary about the 12 recommendations:

RECOMMENDATION #1: The NSW Government is asked to compel (a) Working Towards rated services to prominently display the period of time it has been on that rating. (b) for the NSW Regulatory Authority to require the service to install CCTVs, and (c) the NSW Regulatory Authority to be allowed to issue service approvals for a fixed term (say 2 years) with extension subject to the service's performance and circumstances.

COMMENTS/RESPONSE #1: Under the National Law: Section 70(d), the NSW Regulatory Authority can already suspend service approval for not meeting the National Quality Standards and when the service has not shown any improvements. The NSW Regulatory Authority can also already amend a service approval at any time using National Law: Section 55(1). The NSW Regulatory Authority can also suspend a service for failure to comply with a condition of the provider approval at any time using National Law: Section 25(b).
RECOMMENDATION #2: To create a new law to compel services to publicly display their compliance history alongside their quality ratings.

COMMENTS/RESPONSE #2: Via the Four Corners child safety expose, it became obvious that Approved Providers do not have access to their complete compliance history. Hence, the NSW Regulatory Authority will have to provide services with their complete compliance history, or for Approved Providers to formally request them under the NSW Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009.

Furthermore, to ensure there is full transparency, the Regulatory Authority must also make public the underlying tangible evidence used by their Authorised Officers to support their reports of non-compliances, including if such non-compliances are being contested at the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT). Notwithstanding, if the non-compliances were already serious, why has the NSW Regulatory Authority not exercised its powers to suspend the service approval using the National Law: Section 70(b) and 70(f), Section 70(d), and/or Section 75?
RECOMMENDATION #3: The NSW Regulatory Authority to be able to publish the maximum amount of information about its compliance actions under the applicable legal limitations.

COMMENTS/RESPONSE #3: By way of the example, Western Australia's Regulatory Authority already publishes its compliance actions for affected services. Nevertheless, parents and families associated with services with persistent and serious non-compliances should not rely on published compliance actions, but would expect the NSW Regulatory Authority to exercise their existing powers (eg the National Law: Section 70(b) and 70(f), Section 70(d), and/or Section 75) so as to achieve more immediate remedial action(s) and prevent serious harm to children wherever possible. And should the Regulatory Authority have reliable evidence of persistent and serious non-compliances, then the NSW Regulatory Authority can be confident of legal challenges being unsuccessful.
RECOMMENDATION #4: A ‘paramount consideration’ provision be inserted in the National Law that should apply to all entities in the ECEC sector including Providers, Services, their employees and other individuals working in the sector to ensure that the protection of the rights and best interests of children is their paramount consideration in decision making.

COMMENTS/RESPONSE #4: It is unlikely that anyone would object to this recommendation on the basis of its intention. That said, the application and complete understanding of such a technical provision would only be by those with appropriate legal expertise. Consequently, to ensure its full impact, the legal understanding must be harmonised with the sector's existing "Critical Reflections" requirements (which the NSW Department of Education admits is "particularly tricky for educators and staff" as outlined in its 7 page guide.)

That said, for the intention to be truly effective, a publication and appropriate training that provides explicit and detailed explanation of the regulator's expectation "paramount consideration" for the range of scenarios faced by early childhood educators, teachers and services as well as the regulator's Authorised Officers will be needed for both sides to be synchronised. Otherwise, the explicit expectations of NSW Authorised Offices and the NSW Regulatory Authority about the exercise of "paramount consideration" will be unclear to the NSW sector.
RECOMMENDATION #5: The NSW Government to propose a new requirement under Regulation 168 to have a Conflicts of Interest Policy.

COMMENTS/RESPONSE #5: Again, it is unlikely that anyone would object to this recommendation on the basis of its intention. However, to fully ensure the government's expectations in practice, then perhaps the NSW Department of Education should produce template policies, procedures, forms and supporting documents to ensure that all early childhood educators, teachers, services, Approved Providers and the regulator's Authorised Officers are all on the same page. Otherwise, the explicit expectations of NSW Authorised Offices and the NSW Regulatory Authority will be unclear to and inconsistent across the NSW sector.
RECOMMENDATION #6: The NSW Regulatory Authority be established as a separate agency under Schedule 1 of the Government Sector Employment Act 2013, either in Part 2, Executive agencies related to Departments or Part 3, Separate Agencies.

COMMENTS/RESPONSE #6: A new and independent Regulatory Authority is to be welcomed. But this new entity must learn from the past and ensure that it has the personnel, non-subjective skillsets and supportive engagement that will work effectively with the NSW sector. Otherwise, the past will be repeated.
RECOMMENDATION #7: Having more effective provisions to protect persons who disclose wrongdoing in ECEC services needs to be given some priority.

COMMENTS/RESPONSE #7: Given ACA NSW has been overtly, persistently and consistently calling for appropriate whistleblower protections, this recommendation should be embraced.
RECOMMENDATIONS #8 & #9: The NSW Government is asked to consider an amendment to the National Regulations to include a condition on all new Provider and Service approvals relating to the installation of CCTV in all new non-family day care Services, for the purpose of protecting the safety and welfare of children.

The NSW Government is also being asked to require the installation of CCTV in specific circumstances in existing non-family day care Services and have them linked to the NSW Regulatory Authority.

COMMENTS/RESPONSE #8 & #9: At the time of writing, the NSW Government has decided to trial this in a limited fashion. The NSW sector appears divided on the issue of mandatory installation of CCTVs with many believing that CCTVs epitomise mistrust of all early childhood educators and teachers, while many others believing that CCTVs provide protection for early childhood educators and teachers from false accusations.

That said, if the NSW Regulatory Authority already has enough evidence to support their concerns, it already has existing powers to either suspend or cancel that service's approval (see National Law: Section 25(b), Section 55(1), Section 73, Section 75, Section 77(a) and Section 80(1)) that can be far more effective and efficient than requiring services to install CCTVs.
RECOMMENDATION #10: The NSW Government is asked to consider to introduce new laws to allow to issue an Infringement Notices and financial sanctions as alternatives to prosecution or where it is reaching the 2-year limitation period from the date of the offence for action to be taken.

COMMENTS/RESPONSE #10: It is again unlikely that anyone would object to the introduction ot new laws to introduce new Infringement Notices and financial sanctions in addition to existing penalties. However, it remains unclear why the NSW Department of Education has not exercised its existing powers that are arguably far more immediate and effective, including those referred to earlier.
RECOMMENDATION #11: The NSW Government is asked to consider creating a one-stop-shop for the making of (non-Police related) mandatory reports by early childhood education and care entities.

COMMENTS/RESPONSE #11: Similar to the whistleblower suggestion earlier, as mandatory reporters, the NSW sector would be more effective if the process for which it reports to authorities are streamlined, consistent, user-friendly, frictionless and does not create any negative consequences for those reporting.
RECOMMENDATION #12: The NSW Government is asked to ensure that (1) the funding of the NSW Regulatory Authority be indexed to the numbers of all services, including those approved each year, (2) be exempt from efficiency dividends, and (3) the Department’s Audit Directorate should conduct an efficiency audit of the NSW Regulatory Authority every 2 years.

COMMENTS/RESPONSE #12: It is in the NSW sector's own interest to have a NSW Regulatory Authority that has the appropriate personnel, non-subjective skillsets and supportive engagement that will effectively work with the NSW sector. Otherwise, the past will be repeated.