Our commitment to safety and quality
The Minister of Education and Early Learning's Statement of Expectations helps parents, carers and families to have confidence in the department’s role in regulating early childhood education and care (ECEC) services in NSW.
The NSW Early Learning Commission is the independent regulator for early childhood education and care (ECEC) in NSW. It is responsible for regulating over 6,000 ECEC services across NSW to ensure they meet stringent standards of safety, quality, and compliance.
The NSW Early Learning Commission was established on 1 December 2025 and reports directly to the Minister for Education and Early Learning. Prior to this the Commission was known as the NSW ECEC Regulatory Authority within the NSW Department of Education.
What is a Ministerial Statement of Expectations?
A Ministerial Statement of Expectation (SOE) is a formal public statement made by the responsible minister(s) outlining the government’s expectations of how a regulator should improve its operations.
The lifecycle of the most recent Ministerial Statement of Expectations for the then-NSW ECEC Regulatory Authority was from 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2025. The Statement of Expectations was created to build confidence and trust in the regulation of ECEC services by establishing clear expectations for regulation and continuous improvement of the regulator.
The SOE outlined the NSW ECEC Regulatory Authority’s agreed deliverables, which support the delivery of safe, high-quality early childhood education and care in NSW. These deliverables focused on 4 key themes including:
- safe ECEC environments and quality outcomes for children
- responsive risk-based regulation
- culturally safe regulation
- improved sector experience and engagement through effective communication.
Read about key performance results and reflections against the lifecycle of the Ministerial Statement of Expectations in the Performance Update Report for FY23-FY25 for NSW Early Education and Care Regulatory Authority.
On 1 December 2025, a Ministerial Charter Letter (PDF 80 KB) was sent to the Acting Commissioner, NSW Early Learning Commission outlining the expectations for the Commission as it takes shape.
The Australian Government Productivity Commission recently examined the ECEC sector and provided many recommendations. Recommendation 8.1 from the inquiry report “A path to universal early childhood education and care” focuses on improving accountability and transparency of the ECEC regulatory system and recommends that regulatory authorities publish key statistics in addition to reporting against key objectives for the previous 12-month period.
The NSW ECEC Regulatory Authority’s key objectives were set out in the Ministerial Statement of Expectations (SOE) and reported on publicly. The SOE lifecycle concluded on 30 June 2025. The NSW Early Learning Commission now operates under a Ministerial Charter, outlining the Minister for Education and Early Learning’s expectations for the Commission as it establishes its independent regulatory role.
Key statistics to complement reporting against the Statement of Expectations are presented below.
The 1-year date range for the information below is from 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025 (2024-25).
| Metric | Figures |
|---|---|
Number of service assessments performed[1] | The total number of assessment and rating final reports issued in 2024-25 was 1,384 |
Average time to conduct an initial assessment on a new service and average time between reassessments of services | Of the 1,384 services with an assessment and rating final report issued in 2024-25:
|
Proportion of services with a rating and the proportion of services assessed | As of 30 June 2025, the number of approved services in NSW was 6,183. 94.2% of these services have been assessed and have a quality rating. The proportion of services assessed in 2024-25 was 22.4%. |
Proportion of services that received a visit from the regulatory authority | The proportion of services that received a visit from the regulatory authority in 2024-25 was 86.5%. |
Number of complaints and the average time taken to investigate a complaint | As at 30 June 2025 the number of complaints in 2024-25 was 6,948. The average time taken to investigate a complaint from lodgement to approval was 50 days.[2] |
Total funding for the regulatory authority | $62 million |
The number of funded roles and number of authorised officers within the regulatory authority | 448.4 full time equivalent (FTE) funded roles which includes 212 FTE authorised officer roles. |
[1] The number of services with an assessment and rating record with final report sent on date between 01/07/2024 and 30/06/2025.
[2] Complaints means cases of category ‘Direct Complaint’, ‘Notified – Law Contravened’, ‘Notified – Serious Incident’.
Feedback and complaints
To provide feedback or make a complaint about a service or the NSW Early Learning Commission:
- Call 1800 619 113
- Email information@earlylearningcommission.nsw.gov.au.
You can also make a complaint about the NSW Early Learning Commission to the NSW Ombudsman. Visit its website to find out more.
For more information on who to make a complaint to, how to make a complaint and the NSW Early Learning Commission's complaints handling policy visit our Give feedback or make a complaint page.
Last modified date
11/06/2026
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