How we investigate a complaint or incident in early learning

An incident is an event that has harmed, or may have harmed, a child while in the care of a service.

Reports about an incident at an early learning service can come from:

the service itself, or another service
whānau | families
members of public
a statutory agency such as the New Zealand Police.

Notifying us about incidents

Licensing criteria requires services to notify us when certain incidents have occurred.

For centre-based services, see:

HS128 Notification to the Education Review Office

For home-based services, see:

HS227 Notification to the Education Review Office

To notify us about an incident, contact the Education Review Office.

What happens when we receive a complaint or report of an incident

If we are notified of a reported incident or receive a complaint, we usually contact the service provider first.

Sometimes we need to keep the identity of the person making the complaint ("the complainant") confidential. We will contact the complainant to let them know if we are investigating.

We will:

acknowledge the complaint or incident report within 2 working days
confirm whether the complainant has followed the service’s complaints policy and procedure
assess risk on children's education, health, safety and wellbeing
decide whether more action is required from us.

We may review the policies, procedures and records to make sure the service has complied with regulatory requirements.

We may also ask the service to investigate an incident or complaint and report its findings to us.

Services can follow their own processes for this or use the complaint or incident investigation templates.

Complaint investigation report template Download DOCX

Incident investigation report template Download DOCX

Visiting your service

We may visit your early learning service to inspect the premises, observe teaching and ask staff for information. This is permitted under section 626 of the Education and Training Act 2020.

Section 626 of the Education and Training Act 2020 – New Zealand Legislation

We usually contact services before visiting.

Visiting unannounced

We may visit services unannounced when we have serious concerns about children’s health and safety.

If we visit unannounced, one of our officials will:

introduce themselves and explain why they are there
provide evidence of their authorisation to enter the premises, this is on the back of their identification card
let you know when they leave.

After our visit, we will write to you to outline next steps. We will explain any requirements your service needs to meet.

Investigations by other agencies

Other agencies, such as the New Zealand Police or the Teaching Council, may also investigate a reported incident.

If this happens, we will let you and the complainant know.

We will tell you:

the purpose of their investigation and area of responsibility
how information will be shared between agencies and how the complainant's privacy will be protected
any agreed actions decided between all agencies involved.

Public notices of investigation

If we determine that a complaint or an incident needs to be investigated, we may:

direct your service to inform parents and caregivers
publish a public notice so the wider community is aware that an investigation is happening.

Regulation 59A – New Zealand Legislation

After an investigation

We will contact you to let you know of the investigation outcome.

If we do not find evidence of regulatory non-compliance, the complaint or incident will be closed.
If we find evidence of non-compliance, we may take further action. We will also do this if we find other instances of non-compliance that are not related to the investigation.

What happens when early learning services do not meet compliance

If other agencies are also investigating, we may wait for their results before the incident can be closed. We will contact your service with information about this.