This week the Victorian Parliament considered a bill to establish the Victorian Early Childhood Regulatory Authority (VECRA) to carry out the functions of the state regulator conferred by the National Law and other relevant laws.1
Whilst this bill has yet to pass the lower house (let alone the upper house), the published text of the bill gives us an indication of what the future of the childcare sector could look like under this Regulator.
If made law in its current form, the bill would not only establish VECRA and the role of the Early Childhood Regulator, but would:
- Codify the requirements for the Victorian Early Childhood Worker Register (the Register);
- Provide guardrails for the treatment of and access to information entered into the Register;
- Grant powers to VECRA to share information with the Social Services Regulator;
- Make maintaining the Register a function of VECRA and grant it power to require information for the Register; and
- Creates offences in relation to failing to respond to a notice for information from VECRA.
In addition, it is possible that the power to make Regulations under this bill would (if made law) result in the VECRA being granted further functions to strengthen the integrity of the ECEC sector.
Whilst the establishment of the Early Childhood Workforce Register is already in the process of being established,2 this bill is a key step to legislating transparency in the sector.
The debate for the Victorian Early Childhood Regulatory Authority Bill 2025 (Vic) has been deferred to 12 November 2025.
How we can help
Subscribe to Moores for further updates and reach out to the Moores Education and Safeguarding Teams for support assessing and mitigating risks of harm in your early learning centre or childcare.
Contact us
Please contact us for more detailed and tailored help.