Regulatory Roundtable Summary

The Education Standards Board (ESB) Regulatory Roundtable held its first meeting on 22 April 2024. 

The Roundtable was chaired by the ESB Chief Executive, Kerry Leaver and the Director, Regulatory Practice and Operations, Sean Heffernan and Assistant Director, Regulatory Reform, Cameron Carroll were in attendance. 

Overview and Purpose 

The Roundtable was established to provide a forum for large providers, and representative peak bodies to engage with the ESB on early childhood education and care regulatory matters under the Education and Care Services National Law (South Australia) Act 2010, National Quality Framework (NQF) and the Education and Early Childhood Services (Registration and Standards) Act 2011, and issues including: 

• Regulatory issues
• Emerging risks
• Sector performance
• Expectations on compliance

Leveraging the experience of the early childhood education and care sector (sector) to support our regulatory reforms is another aim.

At its first quarterly meeting the Roundtable discussed: 

Terms of Reference

The Roundtable endorsed the Terms of Reference.

What does success look like for the Roundtable?

• Regular information sharing and targeted communication between the ESB and the Roundtable, to then inform the sector and also provide feedback on the sector’s experience of regulation by the ESB. 
• Demonstrated performance improvement by the sector, through voluntary compliance of Approved Providers and Services. 

What are the initial priorities of the Roundtable?

• Understanding the moderation and quality assurance practices of the ESB.
• Gaining a better understanding of what Regulatory Officers are looking for at assessment and rating.
• Exploring and understanding the intent of the NQF ratings system and achieving exceeding ratings.  
• Obtaining information on any upcoming policy or legislative changes at a state and national level. 
• Further understanding national and jurisdictional data within the sector and determining what benchmarks can be set both at an Approved Provider and Service level to support voluntary compliance. 

ESB Updates:

Chief Executive – Kerry Leaver

The Chief Executive provided an update to the Roundtable on the Child Safety Review: 

• The ESB has been working with the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) on the Review of the Child Safety Arrangements under the NQF. 
• The Roundtable discussed the recommendation to reduce the notification reporting timeframe for any physical or sexual abuse complaints, allegations or incidents from 7 days to 24 hours. 

Director, Regulatory Practice and Operations – Sean Heffernan

The Director, Regulatory Practice and Operations provided an overview to the Roundtable on: 

• Application validation, processing and legislative timeframes. 
• 2024 South Australian Early Childhood Education and Care Survey
• Regulatory Officer recruitment and training 

Assistant Director, Regulatory Reform – Cameron Carroll

The ESB has been preparing a Reform Roadmap to support reform projects following the Royal Commission into Early Childhood Education and Care. 

To date, there has been a focus on improving the regulatory experience for Approved Providers and Services, through: 

• Creating an Intake and Assessment function, which receives all: 
  • Applications
  • Notifications
  • Complaints; and
  • Inbound phone calls and emails. 
• Undertaking a project to implement a new telephony platform which provides better service to regulated parties. 
• Creating an Education and Guidance function, which will develop best practice materials for the sector to support continuous improvement, based on data and trends as well as feedback from the sector and the Roundtable. 

Next Meeting

The Roundtable will next meet in July 2024.