From 1 November 2026
The Child Safety Amendments made in late 2025 and early 2026 have been proclaimed to come into operation in Western Australia from 1 November 2026.
This follows the tabling of the amendment instruments in the WA Parliament for scrutiny as required by the Education and Care Services National Law Application Act 2026. The amendment instruments can be viewed on the WA Parliament’s website pages for documents tabled on 5 May 2026.
The Child Safety Amendments include:
- establishing a new National Early Childhood Worker Register
- new child safety training requirements
- a new paramount consideration of ‘safety, rights and best interests of children’ in the provision of services
- regulation of electronic devices
- increased Regulatory Authority powers and increased (tripled) offence penalties.
Information on the Child Safety Amendments including minor WA-specific modifications to dates is set out in the Table of Child Safety Amendments – applied in Western Australia from 1 November 2026 (Word, 171KB).
The ACECQA website provides extensive information on the Child Safety Amendments to assist the sector understanding and implementing the changes.
Additional information (see Key Documents below) is set out in the:
- Webinar PowerPoint presentation (PDF, 2.3MB) conducted by the Early Childhood Legislation and Intergovernmental Relations Unit
The WA legislation website will have consolidated versions including the Child Safety Amendments and WA-specific modifications from 1 November 2026 of the:
- Education and Care Services National Law (WA)
- Education and Care Services National Law Regulations (WA)
The Western Australian Legislation website provides information on how to read legislation in its publication How to read legislation – a short guide (accessible via the “Drafting and Legislation Guidance” tab).
From 1 May 2026
On 1 May 2026, Western Australia transitioned its regulation of early childhood education and care services under the National Quality Framework from ‘corresponding’ legislation to ‘applied’ legislation.
This transition aligned Western Australia (WA) more closely with other Australian jurisdictions and enables future amendments to the National Law and National Regulations to be implemented in a more efficient way.
The transition means that:
- the National Law set out in the Schedule to the Victorian Education and Care Services National Law Act 2010, subject to some changes that preserve established WA-specific differences, has become the National Law in WA, and WA’s ‘corresponding’ Education and Care Services National Law Act 2012 are repealed.
- the National Regulations published on the NSW legislation website, subject to some changes that preserve established WA-specific differences, have become the National Regulations in WA, and WA’s ‘corresponding’ Education and Care Services National Regulations 2012 is repealed.
The ‘applied’ National Law and National Regulations in WA are now referred to as the:
- Education and Care Services National Law (WA)
- Education and Care Services National Law Regulations (WA).
The transition to ‘applied’ law resulted in some changes to section and regulation numbers and these are set out in a Table for ease of reference.
- Many of the regulation numbering changes relate to the WA-specific swimming pools regulations for Family Day Care services. Refer also to the FAQs on ‘Gradual phase-out of swimming pools and spas at family day care services (FAQ 2026-04)’.
2019 National Quality Framework (NQF) Review changes that came into effect in WA on 1 May 2026
Following the 2019 NQF Review, Education Ministers agreed in 2022 to implement a range of legislative changes. These changes were fully implemented in 2023 in all jurisdictions other than Western Australia by amendments to the National Law and the National Regulations.
The 2019 NQF Review changes were predominately to the National Regulations. WA implemented almost all of these changes in its ‘corresponding’ WA Regulations. However, the changes to the WA Law to ‘correspond’ to the National Law were not made by the Western Australian Parliament at this time.
By transitioning WA to ‘applied’ law under the Education and Care Services National Law Application Act 2026, the outstanding 2019 NQF Review changes to the National Law have now come into effect in WA.
Information on these changes was set out in the Education and Care Regulation Unit’s (ECRU) 'InFocus' of March 2026 and details of relevant sections and regulations are set out in the Table of 2019 NQF Review provisions commencing in WA 1 May 2026.
Where to access the legislation
Following Western Australia’s transition to ‘applied’ legislation on 1 May 2026, the consolidated versions of the Education and Care Services National Law (WA) and the Education and Care Services National Law Regulations (WA) have now been published on the WA legislation website.
Information to assist the sector with the transition was published in the InFocus March 2026 edition and the 29 April 2026 Sector Update.
For questions on WA’s ‘applied’ legislation please contact the Education and Care Legislation and Intergovernmental Relations (ECLIR) via email eclir@communities.wa.gov.au.
Key documents
- Webinar PowerPoint presentation (PDF, 2.3MB) conducted by the Early Childhood Legislation and Intergovernmental Relations Unit
- Table of Child Safety Amendments (Word, 171KB) – applied in Western Australia from 1 November 2026
- Table of Legislation section and regulation numbering changes as at 1 May 2026
- Table of 2019 NQF Review provisions commencing in WA 1 May 2026
- FAQ 2026-02 - Applied Law FAQs - Working with Children Screening and Family Day Care
