28 May New child safety checks hit hundreds of childcare centres across NSW and Victoria
More than 500 early learning and outside school hours care services across NSW and Victoria were visited without warning this week as regulators stepped up efforts to strengthen child safety in childcare settings. Here’s what parents need to know about the latest compliance blitz — and why officials say it matters for families.
Parents dropping children at childcare or after-school care this week may not have noticed anything unusual — but behind the scenes, regulators across NSW and Victoria were carrying out one of the largest child safety compliance operations seen in the sector.
Over two days, more than 200 authorised officers made unannounced visits to more than 500 early learning and outside school hours care services across the two states. The checks focused on new child safety reforms, including a national worker register designed to improve oversight of people working with children.
The joint campaign is believed to be the first operation of its kind between the NSW Early Learning Commission and the Victorian Early Childhood Regulatory Authority (VECRA).
What is the National Early Childhood Worker Register?
One of the main focuses of the visits was the new National Early Childhood Worker Register — a system designed to give regulators a clearer picture of who is working in childcare and early learning services.
Approved providers were required to upload details of current staff members by March 27 this year and must now add new employees within 14 days of hiring them.
The register aims to help regulators identify risks earlier, share information between states and respond more quickly if concerns arise.
For families, the change is largely happening behind the scenes, but regulators say it is an important extra layer of accountability in a sector responsible for the care of very young children.
Why are surprise visits important?
Unlike scheduled assessments, unannounced visits allow officers to observe services during a typical day.
During the blitz, officers also spoke with providers about child-safe recruitment practices and employment obligations, alongside checking compliance with the new laws.
NSW Early Learning Commissioner Daryl Currie said strong cooperation between states and services was essential to keeping children safe.
“Child safety is a shared responsibility and strong collaboration between regulators, agencies, providers, services and families is essential to getting it right.”
VECRA Interim Regulator Adam Fennessy said parents had every right to expect safe, high-quality care.
“The National Early Childhood Worker Register is a critical tool that enables regulators across Australia to know where and when people are working in early childhood services, and to enable swift action to prevent harm to children.”
What parents can do
While most families won’t see these compliance systems directly, experts say parents still play an important role in helping maintain safe environments for children.
Parents and carers can:
- ask services about their child safety policies
- check whether educators and carers are easy to identify
- pay attention to communication from centres about staffing changes
- raise concerns early if something doesn’t feel right
- make sure services are transparent and open to parent questions
Regulators say more information about the compliance campaign — including whether enforcement action was taken against any services — is expected to be released in coming weeks.
Since the start of the year, NSW has conducted more than 3,000 service visits, while Victoria has carried out more than 1,500, with more than half of them unannounced.
