Why we need an Early Childhood Services Commission

Reflecting on the many policy and regulatory changes underway, ECA CEO Samantha Page and ECA’s Dr Sarah Wight advocate for an Early Childhood Services Commission with a broad remit and powers to lead quality, safety and reform as we work towards a universal system of early childhood education and care (ECEC).  

In recent months, ECA has joined calls for an Early Childhood Services Commission. Our submission to the Federal Budget 2026 proposes the following specific functions of the Commission: 

• Drive consistency across the jurisdictional regulatory authorities in alignment with the National Quality Framework (NQF).  

• Exercise powers to compel regulatory authorities, providers and services to act to ensure and drive quality and safety.  

• Enable a data-informed approach to the mapping of existing provision and the establishment of new early childhood services.  

• Use data to inform provider and service approvals and cancellations to balance supply and demand.  

• Articulate provider expectations to operationalise the paramountcy of children’s safety, rights and best interests. 

• Lead a renegotiation of the provider mix whereby bad actors are excluded, and those who remain or enter accept that government investment of public monies comes with clear obligations about what is fair and reasonable in terms of profit and surplus, and an expected level of re-investment into services where children attend. 

• Monitor and respond to community needs and service system gaps through agreed approaches to needs analysis, community consultation and local system design.  

• Drive research and innovation in flexible service models, particularly in unserved and underserved markets (Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, 2024) or cohorts with bespoke needs, with consideration of how integrated approaches can enable the effective wraparound of supports and services for families and children. 

The Australian Government Productivity Commission’s (2024) inquiry report, A Path to Universal Early Childhood Education and Care, and the Childcare Inquiry of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (2024) called for an independent ECEC commission and a market steward, respectively. Some two years later, the need is only more pronounced. The Commission could be structured in a number of different ways, with the most likely being a national authority that leads and works with state and territory regulatory authorities by applying the National Law consistently across jurisdictions—building on the role of ACECQA, but with a broader and stronger mandate. 

The role of the Commission would be to engineer a shift from the current free market to a ‘social market’ system based on agreed values and outcomes for children and families. Private operators and investors would continue to play an important role as part of the provider mix and infrastructure development, but this would have to be contingent on putting children first and meeting quality, safety and transparency standards. A Commission could lead improved planning of how such a mix of models could better serve cohorts of children and their families sitting outside the current provision due to a lack of access, affordability and/or inclusion.  

Oversupply or excess ECEC services in one area or region undermines quality provision. Under such scenarios, competition for staff can be fierce, services can be underutilised, and viability can be seriously compromised. This may translate to a daily struggle to balance staying afloat, meeting ratio requirements and delivering a quality early childhood program—all in a highly pressurised time of change for the sector. 

Undersupply, or no supply, means ECEC options may be quite limited or altogether non-existent, for example, where there may be significant waitlists, affordability may be out of reach, and/or families may need to accept options that do not meet their needs. ECA has advocated for the provision of ECEC services in places and spaces that the market has historically deemed to be unviable, with some remote and rural communities unlikely to see early childhood provision in their contexts without significant intervention. 

To build a universal ECEC system, the Australian Government’s vision needs to be clearly articulated and translated into system stewardship. ECA is issuing a call to action for the Australian Government to lead in the design and establishment of a highly effective Early Childhood Services Commission. A core purpose of the Commission would be to advance the reform needed for Australia to move towards a high-quality ECEC system that provides for every child and family, regardless of their location or circumstances, while providing responsive and articulate leadership in quality and safety across borders, geographies, and provider and service types. This can build on the strong foundations of the NQF and existing ECEC models, while offering a responsiveness and degree of choice for children, families and their communities. The paramount consideration of children’s safety, rights and best interests should underpin the design and implementation of the Commission and the realisation of a high-quality universal system.  

References 

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. (2024). Childcare inquiry. Final report. December 2023. Commonwealth of Australia. https://www.accc.gov.au/system/files/childcare-inquiry-final%20report-december-2023_0.pdf 

Australian Government Productivity Commission. (2024). A path to universal early childhood education and care. Inquiry report no. 106, vol. 1. Commonwealth of Australia. https://assets.pc.gov.au/inquiries/completed/childhood/report/childhood-volume1-report.pdf