In Focus

Regulatory Spotlight

Director's Reflections for 2024 

I want to first start by acknowledging the fantastic work that continues to happen across the West Australian (WA) education and care sector. This is due to the ongoing commitment by educators and providers to ensure children have the best start to life through the provision of quality education and care. We know that staffing continues to be a challenge for most services, but there has been an increase in the number of students who have enrolled in early childhood qualifications through the fee free training offered by Jobs and Skills WA, and hopefully this continues in 2025.

Additionally, we have seen a drop in the number of confirmed breaches from 2023- 2024. Western Australia’s average non-compliance is lower than the national average at 167 confirmed breaches per 100 services as compared to 188 confirmed breaches nationally.

From January 2024 to November 2024, 84.1 percent of the assessed and rated services received a rating of meeting or above. An additional six services attained an exceeding rating this year. WA continues to follow the national average at 83.3 percent of all services currently meeting or exceeding the national quality standards.

WA has further reduced the timeframes between assessment and rating visits to 3.1 years as compared to 4.1 years nationally, which allows families to make decisions about their child’s education and care based on contemporary ratings.

The Education and Care Regulatory Unit (ECRU) is continuing to work with other agencies to provide the sector with information on various topics, such as burns preventions, allergy awareness, consumer protection/product safety to name a few. We are hoping to continue to provide expert information throughout 2025 for educators and providers.

While I know this year has had its challenges, it appears every year has surprises for us!  Next year will see some further changes in relation to the Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) Child Safety Review which will continue to focus on the wellbeing of children.

On behalf of everyone here at ECRU, we hope you get the opportunity to spend quality time with your friends and families, and for those who celebrate it, wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. 

ECRU Director Natalie Gulberti

Early Childhood Teacher (or suitably qualified person) Requirements

Regulation 135 covers illness or absence of the Early Childhood Teacher (ECT) and sets out specific circumstances under which an ECT can be absent for up to 60 days in any 12-month period.

You should also consider:

Regulation 11 – Meaning of in attendance sets out the requirement for the ECT to be physically present at the service and carrying out one or more of the education and care activities listed, for which an approved provider would need to be able to evidence.

Regulation 152 – Record of access to early childhood teachers

Regulation 152B – Record of replacement of early childhood teacher or suitably qualified person

Regulation 239A – Centre based services in remote and very remote areas – attendance of early childhood teachers

Regulation 242 – Persons taken to be early childhood teachers

If you are unsure about your service's requirements, please contact ECRU at ecru@communities.wa.gov.au detailing your current situation and an authorised officer will be able to assist.

Mandatory Reporting Implementation - 1 November 2024

Following the successful training rollout presented by the Department of Communities Mandatory Reporting Team and ECRU, we would like to take this opportunity to remind the sector of their obligations as mandatory reporters of child sexual abuse.

Please refer to the Mandatory Reporting of Child Sexual Abuse in WA website for current and accurate resources to read and share with your staff to ensure a thorough understanding of mandatory reporting obligations, as well as to inform any updates to your policies and procedures.

The mandatory reporting early childhood workers information sheet is now available.

If you have a concern that a child is suffering any form of abuse or neglect, other than sexual abuse you should complete and submit the 'Professional Referral online form' on the concerns for the safety or wellbeing of a child or young person page or contact the Central Intake Team on 1800 273 889 for guidance.

Western Australian-led AEDC Engagement Kit - resources for schools and early childhood education and care 

Does your service use the Australia Early Development Census (AEDC) data to inform evidence-based planning to better support the needs of children within your local community context?

With new data due to be published in 2025, it is the perfect time to access the Western Australian AEDC school and early childhood education and care engagement kit to assist your service team to engage with, and build a deeper understanding of the AEDC.

These resources link with the National Quality Standard, Early Years Learning Framework and the Australian Curriculum, and how the AEDC can be used for evidenced-based and evidence-informed planning within local community contexts. Electronic versions of the engagement kit resources are available.

The resources include domain guides, links to key frameworks, other printable resources, and video examples of how schools and early childhood education and care centres have used the data. 

An AEDC online professional learning (OPL) course has also been developed and complements the resources. The course includes four 15-minute online learning modules which can be logged into by government and non-government schools, as well as early childhood education and care centres.

Join staff from the Education and Care Regulatory Unit to hear about the assessment and rating process at our live Next Assessment and Support Advice (NASA) webinars. Authorised officers will discuss what they are seeing in the sector and share some insights on how you can prepare your team and service for a successful visit. This is a great opportunity for you to ask questions and hear from other education and care professionals about their experiences.  

Webinar Dates:

• 19 March 2025 at 10am – all service types
• 17 June 2025 at 10am – all service types
• 9 July 2025 at 6pm – Family Day Care only
• 18 September 2025 at 12:30pm – all service types
• 4 December 2025 at 10am – all service types

Book your session on Eventbrite. 

A recorded NASA presentation is available on the ECRU website for you to share with your service team at any time.

New Infant Sleep Standards

Sadly, between 2001 and 2021, 151 babies died in Australia due to inclined products such as rockers, bouncers, and propped items. To reduce the risk of sudden death and injury from inclined products, two new mandatory standards were introduced in July 2024. These are:

1. Safety Standard: outlines the design, construction, performance, and testing requirements for infant sleep products (cots, porta cots etc) and inclined non-sleep products which infants may also tend to fall asleep in (rockers, bouncers, swings etc).
2. Information Standard: outlines the information (assembly, how to use the product, warnings etc.) to be supplied with infant sleep products and inclined non-sleep products on safe use.

Understanding the Risks

These standards outline some of the hazardous design features associated with sleep and inclined non-sleep products including:

• Inclines and curves: the surface of an infant sleep product must not have an incline greater than 7 degrees to the horizontal. It must be flat and not be curved.
• Padded surfaces: the sleep surface, including the mattress, must be sufficiently firm and rigid.
• Pillows: moveable soft sleep related products can cover an infant’s face and cause suffocation. It is recommended that these products are kept away from an infant’s sleeping environment. It’s also important to keep their sleeping area free from toys.

Avoid anything that restricts easy movement, breathing and causes entanglement.

So, what does this mean for you as a child-care educator?

While Consumer Protection undertakes regular monitoring of the market, it is also important for you to be aware that unsafe products can still exist. Always check that the product you are using complies with the current standards.  

If you plan on purchasing any new furniture for your centre, ensure that you carefully read the instructions and labels on safe use and that the product you are purchasing does not have hazardous features.

Learn how to keep sleeping babies safe: Red Nose Safe Sleeping Recommendations | Red Nose Australia.

Read more about Consumer Protection and stay updated with Product Safety Australia. 

For further reading on the standards, please visit Mandatory safety and information standard for infant products.

A safety message from Consumer Protection about how to keep up the Christmas cheer by staying clear of unsafe gifts

The countdown to Christmas is officially on with only a matter of weeks to go. Early childhood and education services around the state will be preparing for festive fun which may include, decorating your centre, a visit from Santa, Christmas dress ups and gift giving. When purchasing gifts for little ones, it’s important to know which products can pose risks. We have compiled a handy list to ensure you tick all the boxes for giving safe gifts this Christmas.

Avoid toys that contain button batteries. If a child in your centre receives a toy that is operated with a button battery, check that the battery is secured with a screw, and is child resistant. If your centre encourages wearing Christmas accessories, be sure to look out for button batteries in flashing objects like Christmas headbands and Santa hats.  

Ensure toys are age appropriate. Follow the age recommendations on toy packaging - this grading method is related to the toy’s safety. 

Make sure that toys don’t present a choking hazard. Toys sometimes contain small detachable or easily removable parts which, when accessible to children, can pose a choking risk, these types of toys should be removed from the centre. The ACCC has created a DIY safety tool which helps you identify toys and other objects that pose choking or ingestion hazards: choke-check.pdf (productsafety.gov.au).

Be careful when shopping online, some countries may not have the strict regulation that we have, meaning the products may not adhere to the Australian product safety standards.

Head over to the Consumer Protection website to familiarise yourself with how we can assist you or visit Product Safety Australia to view the latest updates.

We hope you have a joyful and safe Christmas.