Personal mobile device ban and other regulatory changes - Effective 1 September 2025

All South Australian early childhood education and care services are required to implement a policy and procedure addressing the use of personal devices to meet the changes to Regulation 168 of the Education and Care Services National Regulations 2011, including:

• The taking, use, storage and destruction of images and videos of children
• Obtaining authorisation from parents to take, use and store images and videos of children
• The use of any optical surveillance device (e.g. CCTV)
• The use of any digital device issued by the service
• The use of digital devices by children.

For Long Day Care and Preschools, these services are asked to provide assurance and a copy of their policy and procedures to the Education Standards Board (ESB) by 26 September 2025.

From 1 September 2025, Long Day Care and Preschool services can provide their assurance and upload their documentation through NQAITS by following these steps: 

1. Log into the National Quality Agenda IT Systems (NQAITS Portal)
2. Click on the My Service button on the navigation menu
3. Once your service has been opened, click the tile for New Forms
4. Select the RI01RA Requested Information Form from the list
5. Follow the prompts to complete the form and upload your documents  
    

The ESB will conduct spot checks of documents and service implementation. Non-compliance may result in regulatory action including financial penalties or additional conditions imposed on services.

Other regulatory changes effective from 1 September include services to be free from vaping substances and vaping devices, and the notification timeframe for allegations or incidents of physical or sexual abuse reduced from 7 days to 24 hours.  

The following resources are available to support services in implementing these changes:

National Model Code

Guidelines for Taking Images of Children while providing Early Childhood Education and Care

ACECQA Information Sheet: NQF Child Safety Changes

NQF Child Safety Guides

For all other questions, please contact the ESB via phone 1800 882 413 or email educationstandardsboard@sa.gov.au