The ACT Government is developing a public register to disclose safety breaches and enforcement actions against childcare centres, promising greater transparency and oversight amid expanding evaluation efforts.
Canberra parents will soon be able to see substantiated safety breaches and enforcement action taken against childcare centres on a new public register being developed by the ACT Government, in a move aimed at giving families more information when choosing early learning services. The register forms part of a wider reform package set out in the government’s response to an Assembly motion from Independent MLA Thomas Emerson, which called for stronger scrutiny and greater transparency in the sector.
The government says the register will sit on a CECA website and will publish specified enforcement actions allowed under the National Law, including details of breaches that have been upheld and the regulator’s response. CECA, the ACT’s Children’s Education and Care Assurance body, already oversees assessments, compliance audits and investigations across long day care, preschools, outside school hours care and family day care. In a recent case involving Edge Early Learning Charnwood, CECA imposed conditions after National Law breaches, then later suspended the service for three months following an internal review, underscoring the regulator’s willingness to use stronger powers when needed.
At the same time, the territory is preparing for a sharp increase in oversight. According to the government’s response, assessments and ratings are expected to rise by 34 per cent by June 2027 and 50 per cent by June 2028 compared with 2025-26, with audits also climbing from 210 a year by June 2027 to 280 by June 2028. The plan would bring the ACT into line with the national expectation that every service is assessed at least once every three years. That expansion is being backed by $11.4 million over four years in the 2026-27 budget, which is intended to lift CECA staffing by more than half.
Ministers are also weighing whether to give CECA another enforcement tool through an infringement notice system, similar to registers already used by the federal Department of Education for Family Assistance Law breaches. But the government says early scoping suggests a fines regime for CECA alone may not be cost-effective, especially given the existing options of suspension, cancellation and prohibition. Beyond compliance, the government is also trying to lift the role of not-for-profit providers by placing community centres alongside new public primary schools, offering favourable leases and developing a policy to prioritise them in government-owned early childhood infrastructure. A final report on the reforms, together with an updated early childhood strategy, is due in February 2027.
Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical judgment, advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
