27 February 2026

Legislative changes - 27 February 2026

In 2025, Education Ministers agreed to a comprehensive package of reforms designed to strengthen child safety across education and care settings.  

From Friday 27 February 2026 new requirements under the National Law and Regulations will take effect. These changes include:

• Making children’s safety, rights and best interests the paramount consideration when operating education and care services
   
• Managing devices in centre-based education and care services and family day care services
   
• Mandating child protection and national child safety training, see here for information on the training and how to register
   
• Establishing inappropriate conduct as an offence
   
• Expanding regulatory authority powers to respond to misconduct
   
• Strengthening Working with Children Checks requirements
   
• Removing the ability to apply for ongoing service waivers related to service building designs
   
• Enabling effective identification and monitoring of related providers
   
• Expanding regulatory authority powers to enter and inspect family day care services
   
• Expanding responsibility of approved providers to assess areas near family day care residences / venues
   
• Establishing a National Early Childhood Worker Register.

Detailed information about these changes and what they mean for approved providers and services is available on ACECQA’s website here. A PDF version is available here.

We recognise these reforms represent significant changes for the sector and will continue to share information as it becomes available on our website.