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From 27 February, significant changes to the Education and Care Services National Law and National Regulations commence following the Early Childhood Legislation Amendment (Child Safety) Act 2025 .
These reforms strengthen child safety, accountability and regulatory oversight across the sector.
What is Changing?
Approved providers, services and educators should be prepared for the following key changes:
For more information visit ACECQA’s website page Child safety - What is changing?
Please keep an eye out for a detailed bulletin from Family Day Care Australia that will be sent Thursday 26th February. This will include a detailed summary of the changes, and what you need to do.
Active outdoor play is an important and valuable part of family day care and supports children’s physical development, coordination, confidence and overall wellbeing.
However, it is important to ensure that when children are using trampolines and outdoor play equipment that they are adequately supervised and every reasonable precaution is taken to protect children from harm and hazard (as required under Sections 165 and 167 of the Education and Care Services National Law).
Trampolines in Family Day Care
In family day care, trampolines are not specifically prohibited under the National Regulations, however, their use must comply with your approved provider’s policies and risk assessment processes. Some services may prohibit trampolines, while others may allow them under strict safety conditions.
Trampolines are consistently identified as higher-risk equipment due to fall height and collision injuries. Educators must always follow their service’s policies and procedures, as required under Regulation 168(2)(a), which requires services to have policies and procedures relating to health and safety. This includes how supervision and risk management are implemented in practice.
Safe Practice Considerations
If your service permits trampolines or elevated play equipment, it is important to consider the following.
Supervision
Children must be adequately supervised at all times in accordance with Section 165 of the National Law and Regulation 122. To support compliance:
Access Control
Taking reasonable precautions under Section 167 of the National Law includes managing children’s access to higher-risk equipment.
Environment and Maintenance
Under Regulation 103, premises, furniture and equipment must be safe, clean and in good repair. Educators should:
Documentation and Risk Assessment
Services must maintain policies and procedures relating to health and safety, including supervision and risk assessment under Regulation 168(2)(a). Risk assessments should clearly outline:
Risk assessments should be reviewed following any incident or near miss, and whenever there are changes to the environment or equipment.
Reflective Practice Questions
Outdoor play should be engaging and developmentally beneficial. With strong supervision, clear safety controls and well-documented risk management processes in place, the risk of serious injury can be significantly reduced.
Please take time to review your outdoor environment, supervision positioning and risk assessment documentation.
Need to report an incident?
You can report an incident via your FDCA Member Zone by clicking here. FDCA’s Incident Report forms are also available here and once completed can be emailed to memberservices@fdca.com.au.
Please note educators and approved providers also have a range of reporting obligations relating to incidents under the Education and Care Services National Law and National Regulations. Click here to see a summary of the notification obligations under the National Law.
Consultation is now open on proposed changes to the Certificate III and Diploma ECEC qualifications as part of the national Early Childhood Education and Care Qualification Review.
HumanAbility, as the Jobs and Skills Council for the sector, is inviting a range of sector stakeholders to provide feedback on draft qualifications and units of competency. The upcoming consultation workshops will focus on responding to draft training products, identifying industry challenges, advising on delivery and pathways, and informing final refinements before endorsement.
FDCA sits on the Technical Advisory Committee for this project and has provided initial feedback to ensure the family day care model is accurately reflected in the revised training products. In particular, FDCA has raised the importance of:
This review represents an important opportunity to modernise qualifications so they reflect the contemporary regulatory and operational realities of family day care in 2026.
We encourage services and educators to review the draft materials and participate in a workshop or submit feedback. To view the draft documents, consultation schedule and registration details, visit the HumanAbility project page by clicking here.
FDCA will continue to advocate to ensure the distinct nature and complexity of family day care is appropriately recognised in the final training package.
As part of our ongoing commitment to supporting members, we’re pleased to introduce a new suite of ready-to-use social media assets designed to assist educators and services in strengthening their marketing efforts.
This collection includes tiles suitable for both Facebook and Instagram, highlighting the key benefits that make family day care the preferred choice for many Australian families.
Featuring four themes and ten key messages within each theme, these assets provide a versatile and practical toolkit to support your promotion of family day care, while helping us present a clear and consistent voice about its value.
You can access the full suite via the Social Media Assets tile in the Marketing My Business Hub section of the Member Zone.
Clean Up Australia Day, taking place on Sunday 1 March, 2026 aims to inspire and mobilise communities to care for and protect our environment, eliminate littler, and end waste.
Now one of Australia’s largest community based environmental events, Clean Up Day is one of the most practical ways to engage kids in litter prevention, sustainability, community and teamwork.
You can register your own event here, or visit the Clean Up Australia website for more information on events and to access resources.
The Little Scientists Early STEM Education Awards are dedicated to celebrating STEM excellence in early childhood education. The awards proudly recognise the educators and teachers of children 0-8 years who champion Science, Technology, Engineering, and Maths (STEM) education in their setting.
Held every two years, the next Little Scientists Early STEM Education Awards opens for nominations on 1 March 2026.
More information about the awards is available here.
Western Sydney University is currently offering a free microcredential, Professional Certificate: Early Child Development & Contemporary Childhoods.
Ideal for learners interested in understanding children’s development and lived experiences in diverse social, cultural, and educational contexts. It is well suited to those considering a career in early childhood education, teaching, or child-focused professions, as well as practitioners seeking to deepen their theoretical and practical understanding of childhood.
The program responds to the increasing demand for knowledgeable, reflective practitioners and future educators who can support children and families in diverse, complex, and changing contexts.
The program begins on 2 March 2026. To find out more, visit the Western Sydney University's website.
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