Overview

• Legislation due in NSW parliament on Wednesday sets out more than 30 changes to early‑childhood laws following a parliamentary inquiry and sector review.
• Penalties are tripled across offences, with a 900% lift to a $500,000 cap for large providers found in breach of safety directives.
• Regulators would gain powers to suspend individual educators, order supervision, and suspend or revoke quality ratings during or after investigations.
• The bill authorizes publishing more information on high‑risk services, doubles the offences eligible for penalty infringement notices, extends prosecution windows, and adds whistleblower protections.
• Centres must check if current or prospective staff are prohibited from working in the sector, a new offence targets inappropriate conduct toward children, and the changes are expected to affect about 460,000 children in NSW.