Laws and regulations

Parents, whānau, service providers, leaders and educators all play an important role in supporting positive outcomes for children. Understanding the laws and regulations that apply to early childhood services can help everyone know what to expect and how services are expected to operate.

The laws and regulations that apply to early childhood services help support children's learning, care, health and safety. Understanding these requirements can be useful for people starting, running or working in a service, and for parents and whānau choosing education and care for their child.

This page provides an overview of the key legislation, regulations and licensing criteria that apply to early childhood education services. It includes information about the Education and Training Act 2020, requirements for licensed and certified services, and links to other relevant New Zealand legislation.

The legislation and regulations that apply to early childhood services work together in layers. The Education and Training Act 2020 provides the legal foundation for early childhood education in New Zealand. Under the Act sit the Early Childhood Education Regulations, which set the requirements services must meet to be licensed or certified.

The regulations are supported by licensing and certification criteria, which explain in more detail what services need to do in practice to meet those requirements. Guidance documents sit alongside the legislation and criteria to help services understand and implement them, but guidance is not part of the law and does not create legal obligations. It may instead describe best practice, or give more information about how services, or settings may meet the regulatory or legal requirements. 

A range of laws, regulations and standards help ensure early childhood services provide safe, high-quality education and care for children. Some legislation sets out the overall requirements for operating a service, while other laws focus on specific areas such as child protection, health and safety, privacy, employment, transport, food safety and building requirements.

While not every law will apply in the same way to every service, understanding these requirements can help service providers, educators, parents and whānau understand the standards and expectations that support children's learning, wellbeing and safety.

You don't need to be an expert in legislation to choose an early childhood service for your child. However, understanding some of the laws and regulations that apply to services can help you know what standards services are expected to meet and how children's learning, health, safety and wellbeing are supported.

While legislation and regulations can change over time, early childhood services are responsible for understanding and meeting the requirements that apply to them. Parents and whānau do not need to keep track of every change, but may find it helpful to stay informed about significant updates that affect their child's education, care, health, safety or wellbeing.

The information on this page may also help you think about questions you would like to ask a service, such as how it protects and supports children, communicates with families, responds to concerns, and continually improves the quality of education and care it provides.

Remember that legislation sets minimum requirements, and many services choose to go beyond these requirements as part of their commitment to providing high-quality education and care for children and mokopuna.

Regulations

Early childhood education services regulations are part of the Education and Training Act 2020.

• Education (Early Childhood Services) Regulations 2008 – New Zealand Legislation

• Education (Playgroups) Regulations 2008 – New Zealand Legislation
  

Licensing and certification criteria

Criteria are used to assess compliance with the minimum standards set by the regulations.

Licensing criteria 

Each type of early childhood service has different criteria.

• Licensing criteria for centre-based education and care services

• Licensing criteria for home-based education and care services

• Licensing criteria for hospital-based education and care services

• Licensing criteria for kōhanga reo affiliated with Te Kōhanga Reo National Trust

• Certification criteria for playgroups.

Early Learning Curriculum Framework – Te Whāriki

Te Whāriki provides the basis and context for the curriculum regulatory requirements in the regulations for all early learning services. The curriculum framework is set by the Minister of Education. The current framework was published in the New Zealand Gazette on 21 April 2023. More information on Te Whāriki is available on our curriculum website Tāhūrangi.

• Mātauranga (He Anga Marau Kōhungahunga) Pānui 2023 / Education (Early Learning Curriculum Framework) Notice 2023 - 2023-go1546 | New Zealand Gazette

• Te Whāriki Online

Child protection policies for early learning services

All early childhood education services must have a child protection policy. This is a requirement under the Children’s Act 2014 and helps ensure services have clear processes for supporting the safety and wellbeing of children.

A child protection policy should set out how the service works to keep children safe from abuse and neglect, and how concerns about a child's wellbeing will be identified, reported and responded to. Services must review their child protection policy at least every three years to ensure it remains effective and up to date.

• HS125 Child protection policies for centre-based services

• HS222 Child protection for home-based services

• HS312 Child protection for hospital-based services

• HS31 Child protection for kōhanga reo

• HS11 Child protection for playgroups.

Below you can find a list of the relevant legislation and links to where you can find more information