The latest quarterly data on the regulation of Early Childhood Education and Care and Child Care in Tasmania.

The Education and Care Unit regulates early childhood education and care (ECEC) and child care in Tasmania under two legislative frameworks.

Publishing regulatory data provides transparency around the Regulatory Authority functions of the Education and Care Unit and encourages voluntary compliance and improved service quality by the early childhood education and care sector.

Data below details regulatory activity.

Service and provider approvals

Service and provider approvals

All early childhood education and care providers and services and child care services must be approved to operate.  Early childhood providers and services approved to operate under the National Quality Framework (NQF) are listed on the National registers | ACECQA for education and care providers and services on the Tasmanian Licensed Child Care Services Register.

The table below shows the number of approved providers and services in Tasmania.

Providers and services approved to operate in Tasmania  Approved as of 30 September 2025 
Education and care providers approved to operate under the NQF 67 
Education and care services approved to operate under the NQF 243 
Child care services licensed to operate under the Child Care Act 19 

Applications for provider and service approval must be assessed and considered against legislative requirements. Regulatory Authority powers and functions the Education and Care Unit exercise include considering applications.  

Please note, not all applications result in an approval.

The table below shows the number of applications for provider or service approval approved in Tasmania.

New approvals

Regulatory dataQuarter ending 30 June 2025 Quarter ending 30 September 2025 
Education and care providers approved to operate under the NQF 01
Education and care services approved to operate under the NQF 0
Child care services licensed to operate under the Child Care Act 01

Service monitoring

Authorised Officers conduct visits to monitor quality and compliance with legislative requirements. Monitoring visits are typically unannounced.

National Quality Framework (NQF) Service visits 

Regulatory data Quarter ending 30 June 2025 Quarter ending 30 September 2025 
Assessment and rating 1314
Compliance and monitoring 68 90
Total service visits 81104

Notifications and complaints

Approved providers are required to notify the Regulatory Authority (section 174 of the National Law) of a range of serious incidents (defined by regulation 12 of the National Regulations) and circumstances at an education and care service, including complaints received by the service or provider.

Notifications and complaints made to services and providers 

Regulatory data Quarter ending 30 June 2025 Quarter ending 30 September 2025
Complaint  27 47 
Incident 206 199 

The Regulatory Authority also receives complaints directly from complainants, such as members of the community and families, some of these will relate to the same incidents reported by approved providers.

Direct complaints to the Regulatory Authority

Regulatory data Quarter ending 30 June 2025 Quarter ending 30 September 2025
Direct complaint 13 17 

Breaches of the Education and Care Services National Law and National Regulations

The Regulatory Authority actively monitors provider and services and investigates and responds to allegations of non-compliance when it receives intelligence (including through notifications, complaints or service visits) about possible breaches of the legislation.

Total breaches 

Regulatory data Quarter ending 30 June 2025 Quarter ending 30 September 2025
Confirmed 154 116 
Not confirmed 103 113 

Sections of the National Law with the highest number of confirmed breaches

Rank by number of confirmed breachesQuarter ending 30 June 2025 Quarter ending 30 September 2025 
Section 165 – Offence to inadequately supervise childrenSection 165 – Offence to inadequately supervise children
Section 167 – Offence relating to protection of children from harm and hazardsSection 167 – Offence relating to protection of children from harm and hazards
Section 166 – Offence to use inappropriate disciplineSection 169 – Offence relating to staffing arrangements
Section 169 – Offence relating to staffing arrangementsSection 174 – Offence to notify certain information to Regulatory Authority
Section 174 – Offence to notify certain information to Regulatory AuthoritySection 166 – Offence to use inappropriate discipline

National Regulations with the highest number of confirmed breaches 

Rank by number of confirmed breachesQuarter ending 30 June 2025 Quarter ending 30 September 2025 
Regulation 99 – Children leaving the education and care service premisesRegulation 99 – Children leaving the education and care service premises
Regulation 97 – Emergency and evacuation proceduresRegulation 97 – Emergency and evacuation procedures
Regulation 77 – Health, hygiene and safe food practicesRegulation 77 – Health, hygiene and safe food practices
Regulation 80 – Weekly menuRegulation 87 – Incident, injury, trauma and illness record
Regulation 107 – Space requirements—indoor spaceRegulation 56 – Review and revision of quality improvement plans
Regulation 72 – Offences in relation to giving false or misleading statements about ratings
Regulation 75 – Information about educational program to be kept available
Regulation 80 – Weekly menu
Regulation 86 – Notification to parents of incident, injury, trauma and illness

Compliance actions

Statutory sanctions including but not limited to Compliance Directions, Compliance Notices, Conditions on Service Approval can be applied in response to non-compliance where further enforcement action is deemed necessary to support the health, safety and wellbeing of children attending a service.

Compliance action taken

Regulatory data Quarter ending 30 June 2025 Quarter ending 30 September 2025 
Compliance notice
Prohibition notice
Emergency action notice
Approval amended1

Assessment and Rating 

The Education and Care Unit as the Tasmanian Regulatory Authority ensures education and care services are assessed against the 7 quality areas of the National Quality Standard.  Services are given a rating for each of the 7 quality areas and an overall rating based on these results.

Assessment and Rating visits

Assessment and Rating visits Quarter ending 30 June 2025  Quarter ending 30 September 2025  
Total Assessment and Rating visits  13 14 

Published Quality Ratings by Rating

Quality Rating Number of services with published rating as of 30 September 2025Percentage of services with published rating as of 30 September 2025 
Exceeding the NQS 4420.1%
Meeting the NQS 13762.6%
Working Towards the NQS 3817.4%
Significant Improvement Required 00%
TOTAL21990%
Elements most frequently rated Not Met over the past 12 months  Quarter ending 30 June 2025  Last financial year
1 July 2024 – 30 June 2025  
2.1.2 (element) 
1.3.1 (element) 
2.2.1 (element) 
Standards most frequently rated Exceeding  Quarter ending 30 June 2025  Last financial year
1 July 2024 – 30 June 2025  
5.1 (standard) 10  
2.1 (standard)  

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