Compliance and enforcement

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​The department is responsible for monitoring early childhood education and care services captured under the National Law and the Education and Care Services Act 2013 (ECS Act).

Children’s health, safety and wellbeing are always the department’s first priority.

The vast majority of Queensland early childhood services are safe and compliant, however, when non-compliance is substantiated, the department will take appropriate and proportionate action to bring the service back into compliance.

Families can ask to view a service’s compliance record​ at any time.

Mo​​nitoring

Authorised officers from the department regularly visit services to assess their compliance with regulatory requirements.

Visits may be announced or unannounced and may consider a range of compliance requirements or target a particular area of concern or risk.

Services may also be advised that they have been placed on a monitoring plan. A monitoring plan involves structured, regular visits which focus on areas of concern or risk identified through the service's compliance history. Services seeking further information regarding their monitoring plan can contact their local regional office.​

Read about the Regulatory Authority's processes and how decisions that directly affect services are made in the regulating for q​uality: monitoring compliance of early childhood services procedure.​

For data on the department’s monitoring activities, see the q​uarterly regulatory data update page.

Com​pliance

Regulatory action may be taken against individuals and services that are not compliant with the:

• Education and Care Services National Law (Queensland) (National Law)
• Education and Care Services National Regulations (National Regulations)
• Education and Care Services Act 2013 (ECS Act)
• Education and Care Services Regulation 2013.

Regulatory responses to non-compliance directly relate to the level of risk to children’s health, safety and wellbeing, and range from verbal advice and guidance to suspending or closing a service, prosecuting an approved provider, or prohibiting a person from providing education and care or performing a specific role in a service​.

Approved providers should have initial recruitment and ongoing employment processes in place to ensure all staff are suitable to provide education and care. Read more about checking a person’s prohibition status​.​​

For data on the department’s compliance and enforcement activities, see the q​uarterly regulatory data update page​.

Read more about the department’s risk-based approach to regulating Queensland early childhood services.

Compliance record

All education and care services approved under the National Law and the ECS Act are required to keep a record of their compliance.

This record must contain details of any:

• compliance direction or compliance notice issued to the approved provider of the service
• suspension of service approval (other than by voluntary application)
• amendment to service approval made by the department.

Families can ask to view a service’s compliance record at any time. The record must be made available to any person upon request.

For services approved under the National Law, this record must be kept:

• at the premises of the education and care service (other than a family day care)
• in an office for the family day care service.

Publication of enforce​ment action

Details of enforcement and compliance action​ taken by the department may be published.

Help a​nd support

For assistance with compliance and enforcement actions, please contact your regional office​.