12 June 2025

Simplify regulations  

Regulations should ensure tamariki safety and quality ECE delivery without burdening ECE services or kaiako with repetitive, labour-intensive paperwork from multiple government agencies that keep them from tamariki education and wellbeing. 

Early childhood education (ECE) in Aotearoa New Zealand plays a foundational role in children’s | tamariki lifelong learning and wellbeing. ECE services are trusted with the education and care of tamariki, so parents, whānau, communities, and government agencies must have confidence in the capability and quality of ECE services.

ECE regulation must balance tamariki safety and quality education, a viable network of providers, and accountability for government funding.

We welcomed the Ministry for Regulation’s ECE regulatory review and supported some of the initial findings — that current settings, tools, and practices create an excessive compliance burden. However, there are areas of significant concern. With the review now complete, there is an opportunity to reset the regulatory framework to better support quality learning, reduce unnecessary administration, and hold tamariki needs above all else.

How did we get here?

The sector went through significant change in 2008, when the current ECE regulations¹ were legally defined. The scale of change meant ECE services needed to be re-licensed. Since then, the sector has grown and evolved considerably, leading to iterative changes to the licensing criteria² in response to emerging issues, educational policy, or political whim. The result is a complex and fragmented regulatory framework.

The sector is currently regulated through:

• The Education and Training Act 2020, which aims to deliver high-quality, culturally responsive, seamless and inclusive education.

• The Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 specifies licensing and operational requirements.

• Licensing Criteria, prescribed by the Minister of Education, outlining the day-to-day standards ECE services must meet.

• The Funding Handbook, prescribed by the Minister of Education, outlining the requirements ECE services must meet in order to receive government funding.

Multiple agencies are involved, primarily the Ministry of Education and the Education Review Office (ERO), each with different roles and interests.

The cost of compliance

ECE services report an increasing administrative burden and complicated, overlapping regulations. ECE service leaders and teachers | kaiako spend significant time on paperwork and compliance activities—time better spent engaging with tamariki.

While safety and accountability are critical, it seems the balance has tipped too far. Regulations must enable, not hinder, the delivery of quality ECE. Simplifying requirements, removing duplication, and using smarter reporting tools could significantly reduce the burden without compromising quality.

Inconsistent interpretation and application

One of the sector’s biggest frustrations is inconsistent interpretation and application of regulations across agencies. Our members report differences between Ministry of Education regional offices, or between the Ministry and ERO. This creates confusion, inefficiencies, and inequities.

Conflicting advice and limited support make compliance harder and undermine trust in the system. Regulations risk becoming a tick-box exercise rather than a tool for quality improvement.

The Ministry for Regulation’s review found regulatory agencies have not provided strong or consistent leadership and recommends strengthening this³. We agree and hope the recommendations lead to better stewardship, communication and guidelines to aid sector understanding.

Strategy before reform

A strategic regulatory framework—co-designed with the sector—must underpin any reform. It should clarify the purpose of regulation, define shared principles, and ensure changes are coherent and enduring. A strategic regulatory framework should complement an ECE Investment Strategy (a key component of overhauling the ECE funding model) and Strategic Teaching Workforce Plan (necessary to address ongoing kaiako shortages across all sectors) to ensure coherence across the system. Effective reform must start with a clear purpose and direction.

The Ministry for Regulation also identified the lack of strategic or long-term planning and recommends clearly defining regulatory objectives and adopting a more strategic, long-term approach⁴.

Striking the right balance

Regulation plays a critical role in ensuring tamariki safety and quality learning. Good practice regulation is not about removing rules, but ensuring they are proportionate to risk, outcome-focused, and consistently applied.

ECE supports tamariki during a period of rapid growth, development, and learning. Regulations must reflect this complexity by protecting tamariki and enabling rich, responsive learning environments. For this to work, the sector must trust the system: regulations must be fit for purpose, consistently implemented, and geared toward better outcomes. Working with the sector, to co-design and test options, will help gain that trust.

Prioritise tamariki, not profits

We advocate for ECE regulations that keep tamariki at the centre. ECE is about the education and care of our youngest and most vulnerable citizens, regulatory decisions should not be driven by commercial interests. A stable sector is essential, and financial viability matters, but the test for any regulatory decision must be: how does this support the education, safety, and wellbeing of tamariki?

Our ECE system includes a mix of public, private, and community-based providers. Such diversity allows parents to make choices that best suit their tamariki and whānau. Regulations need to support a diverse network of provision, while setting clear expectations for ethical practice, equity, and accountability.

No compromise on quality

Regulatory reform must support, not compromise, quality ECE. The Ministry for Regulation has recommended greater flexibility in workforce qualifications⁵, but we are unequivocal—qualified kaiako are non-negotiable. The evidence is clear that qualified ECE kaiako are essential to delivering high-quality education and care. Any moves to reduce the quality and training of the people that are looking after our tamariki is a massive backwards step for our sector, for the education of our children, and would risk undermining the very outcomes regulation is meant to protect: the learning, safety, and wellbeing of tamariki.

We were also disappointed that teacher: child ratios were deemed out of scope of the review, as these are unsafe and inadequate. Ratios are a fundamental component of quality ECE, directly impacting kaiako workload, tamariki safety and learning. Excluding them from the review was a missed opportunity to address one of the sector’s most pressing concerns.

Kaiako qualifications and ratios, along with group size, form the ‘iron triangle’ of quality ECE. This is what we should be striving for.

Unintended consequences

Even well-meaning regulations can have unintended consequences if implementation is rushed or not carefully tested. An example is overly prescriptive requirements around documentation that can lead to box-ticking and increased workload, rather than deeper reflection or improved practice. Similarly, rules intended to support safety may unintentionally limit children’s exploration or culturally responsive approaches.

To avoid unintended consequences, regulations must be tested for real-world impact across a diverse range of services. This means early sector engagement, co-design, modelling how changes would play out in practice, piloting, and refining based on evidence and experience. Regulators must be open to feedback and willing to iterate.

Together with our fellow leaders in the ECE Sector Partnership, we’ve offered to help test assumptions and pilot proposed changes to ensure they are fit for purpose.

Ministry for Regulation’s ECE Review: an opportunity for change

The Ministry for Regulation’s review represents a significant opportunity. As the Ministry’s inaugural sector review, ECE is effectively in the spotlight, potentially as a political test case. This makes it all the more important that the review’s recommendations are approached with care, not haste.

The review’s 15 recommendations include some common-sense proposals, such as improving communication and streamlining reporting, alongside broader ones that require more unpacking. Their success will depend on how they are implemented. Rushed reform risks repeating mistakes we should have learned from: disconnected changes, political interference, and unintended consequences.

Instead, this review should mark the beginning of a genuine partnership between government, regulatory agencies, and the sector. A process grounded in co-design, with space to test, evaluate, and refine, will lead to better outcomes.

A regulatory system that supports and enables quality ECE

ECE services and kaiako have an incredibly important role in shaping our future generations. They deserve a regulatory system that supports them to do this work well: one that is clear, coherent, and child-centric.

The current system is complex, compliance-heavy, and inconsistently applied. But rather than starting over, the focus should be on smarter regulation, shaped by a clear strategy, informed by sector experience, and a commitment to tamariki education and wellbeing.

The Ministry for Regulation’s review gives us the mandate for real change. As the first sector to undergo this kind of regulatory review, ECE can set the benchmark for reform done well — where tamariki remain at the centre, not overtaken by process or politics.

You can find more about the Ministry of Regulation’s ECE Sector Review and final report here and read our submission here.

We welcome any thoughts you may have, please send these to members@ecnz.ac.nz.

Check out our other deep dives here

Media Contact

Rob McCann - Lead Communications Advisor | Kaitohutohu Whakapā Matua
022 411 4560
rob.mccann@ecnz.ac.nz

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