A ban without enforcement isn’t a safety measure

Recent media reports have highlighted widespread noncompliance with the new personal smartphone ban introduced in New South Wales, with surprise inspections suggesting around half of services inspected found in breach. Footage aired by 7NEWS showed educators using their phones during shifts, despite the regulations explicitly prohibiting personal device use while caring for children. Further reporting has also noted that while the new rules include significant penalties for non-compliance, there is little publicly available evidence that these sanctions are being actively enforced. This apparent gap between regulatory intent and implementation raises legitimate questions about the consistency and effectiveness of the new requirements in practice.

The smartphone ban stems from the NSW Government childcare safety reforms implemented under changes to the Children (Education and Care Services National Law Application) Act 2010. These reforms now legally prohibit educators from using personal electronic devices while providing education and care, with smartphones, tablets and smart watches among the devices explicitly banned.

The intent of the legislation was straightforward: to reduce distraction, increase transparency, and strengthen safety. But early breaches raise a deeper concern for the early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector: safety reforms cannot protect children if they are not enforced, and if the workforce is not properly supported to meet the expectations.

Clear rules require consistent enforcement

Experience across education and regulatory fields shows that policy only becomes effective when implementation and enforcement are visible, predictable and consistent, a principle reflected in ACECQA’s Good regulatory practice guidance, which states that regulatory actions should be “open and transparent” and that legislation should be “fairly and consistently administered and enforced”. 

This dynamic is well recognised in the ECEC sector. Earlier national guidance, including the National Model Code for Taking Images in Early Childhood Education and Care, stresses the need to restrict personal devices precisely because they can compromise supervision and create opportunities for misuse.

If educators perceive that breaches are occurring without consequences, rules lose their deterrent effect and safety standards erode over time.

Breaches signal systemic gaps, not a lack of care

The overwhelming majority of educators are deeply committed to children’s wellbeing. When compliance issues emerge so soon after a reform, it typically reflects system-level gaps, not a failure of individual care.

These gaps include inconsistent induction processes across services, uneven understanding of new regulatory requirements, rapid policy change without aligned professional development, and unclear expectations about what “compliance” looks like in daily practice. Guidance from ACECQA highlights that effective governance and leadership require clear roles, systems and ongoing professional learning to support a skilled and engaged workforce, yet it also acknowledges that implementation varies across services. 

Recent national workforce work, including the Early Childhood Education and Care Workforce Capacity Study, points to ongoing challenges in workforce capability, support and attraction. In addition, evidence identifies barriers such as workload pressures, limited time and access to professional learning, and differing understandings of roles and responsibilities, all of which affect how new requirements are interpreted and embedded in day-to-day practice. 

Without consistent training and support, educators may inadvertently breach rules, not out of disregard, but because they have not been prepared for the operational implications of the legislation.

Ratio reform won’t solve behavioural or cultural issues

At the same time the smartphone rules have been introduced, educators continue to advocate for adjustments to educator-to-child ratios. While ratio improvements can meaningfully support quality and supervision, they are not a substitute for compliance culture.

A smaller ratio cannot compensate for an educator using a personal phone while supervising, for inconsistent application of safety rules, for gaps in professional training, or for unclear leadership expectations. In other words, changing ratios will not improve safety if some educators continue to engage in unsafe or non-compliant practices.

This is reflected in Australian research showing that educator-to-child ratios provide essential structural safeguards, but children’s outcomes depend equally on process quality, the real-world interactions, behaviour and engagement between educators and children, which ratios alone cannot guarantee. True safety is achieved through active supervision, deliberate observation, positioning and engagement required under the National Quality Framework to protect children from harm. Changing ratios will not improve safety if some educators continue to engage in unsafe or non-compliant practices. Ratios support structure, but behaviour and culture determine safety.

Workforce preparation remains a missing link

Many early career educators report that their qualifications did not fully prepare them for the regulatory responsibilities they face on the floor which highlights gaps between initial training and the practical skills needed for compliance and professional practice. 

At service level, induction processes vary widely. Some centres offer comprehensive onboarding and ongoing professional development, while others rely on informal explanations or assume educators already understand new expectations. This creates a patchwork of understanding across the sector, where compliance becomes dependent on individual employer practices rather than clear, universal preparation.

What the sector needs now

For the smartphone ban, and future safety reform, to be effective, the sector needs a coordinated approach built on enforcement, preparation, and culture.

1. Visible and consistent enforcement

Regulators do not need to be punitive, but they do need to demonstrate that breaches have consequences. Consistency strengthens trust and reinforces the importance of safety-critical rules.

2. Workforce development aligned to policy changes

New safety requirements should always be accompanied by clear guidance, accessible training, and practical implementation tools. Educators deserve support, not ambiguity.

3. Service-level systems that support compliance

Practical measures, such as lockable phone storage, designated communication devices, strengthened policies, and leadership modelling, help embed expectations into daily practice.

4. Strong, leadership-driven safety culture

Rules only become real when leaders uphold them consistently. Culture shapes practice long before compliance officers enter the room.

5. Ongoing review and sector feedback
 

Effective reforms require mechanisms for monitoring impact and incorporating educator and service feedback to ensure policies remain practical, effective and responsive over time.

The recent breaches of the smartphone ban are not simply isolated incidents. They highlight the critical need for enforcement, educator preparation, and strong workplace culture to operate together. Rules alone do not keep children safe.

Compliance, clarity, and consistent practice do.

Phone bans, ratio adjustments and broader reforms all aim to enhance child safety, but their effectiveness depends on how well they are implemented. Policymakers and services must invest as much in how these reforms are supported and enforced as they do in the rules themselves.

Because ultimately, as the sector well understands: Rules don’t keep children safe. The people following them do.

Authors

 

Lauren Brocki is an education policy researcher specialising in early childhood education and care. Her research examines pre-service teacher education, workplace preparedness, mentoring, professionalism, workforce regulation, and child safeguarding, with particular attention to how education governance and political discourse shape quality, wellbeing, and safety in ECEC systems.

Alicia Phillips is a distinguished researcher whose work has advanced quality standards, professional practice, and policy in ECEC. She has led and collaborated on influential projects addressing early childhood professional experience, educator wellbeing and job satisfaction. Her excellence has been recognised through prestigious awards and fellowships.

Kelli-Anne Price is an early childhood academic and registered teacher with experience across early childhood settings, leadership, and tertiary teaching. Her work centres on practice-based inquiry and reflective pedagogy, and is a strong advocate for the ECEC sector, with her teaching recognised through national awards.