Trends in compliance

Coloured fence line

Trends in compliance

30 October 2024

As part of our standard monitoring over the past 12 months, the Education Standards Board (ESB) has identified that the most reported serious incident was children being unaccounted for or going missing. The second-most frequently reported incident was risks to health, safety or wellbeing within the learning environment.

Adequate supervision remains a high priority and is found to be a key issue leading to incidents where children are missing and unaccounted for. The ESB recently published information regarding Under the Roof provisions and ratios in our August Bulletin. 

The following resources from the Australian Children's Education and Care Authority (ACECQA) and the NSW Department of Education also provide education and guidance:

Incidents related to the physical environment within an education and care setting are increasing steadily. Quality Area 3 of the National Quality Standard (NQS) describes the elements considered as part of the physical environment to ensure that:

  • the design of the facilities is appropriate for the operation of a service
  • the premises, furniture and equipment are safe, clean and well maintained
  • the service environment is inclusive, promotes competence and supports exploration and play-based learning.

Outdoor play environments also need to meet the NQS and consider what dangers may be introduced with consideration is not given to design and maintenance of these areas. Some common examples we are finding include:

  • bushes and gardens becoming overgrown, presenting a supervision issue
  • trees and tree stumps located next to fences, becoming a climbing hazard
  • gardening equipment like hoses being left out and accessible to children
  • unchecked fence lines.

The ESB has outlined better practice principles for creating and maintaining optimal outdoor learning environments.