New child safe recruitment laws took effect in New South Wales on 24 April 2026, and early childhood education and care (ECEC) providers need to act now if they haven't already.
Under Regulation 168 of the Education and Care Services National Regulations (NSW), all approved ECEC providers must have documented child safe recruitment and employment practices embedded in their staffing policies and procedures. The changes are designed to raise the bar on how organisations hire people who work with children.
What the new requirements cover
Among a series of changes, the regulation introduces three specific obligations for ECEC providers:
These aren't soft guidelines. They're documented requirements that providers must be able to demonstrate are built into their practices.
For many organisations, the verbal reference requirement is where the gap is most likely to show up. Most providers have some form of reference checking in place, but verbal references conducted over the phone, recorded properly and linked to an audit trail are a different thing entirely.
Why verbal references matter under child safe frameworks
A written reference submitted by a candidate is useful, but it doesn't give you the same insight as a structured conversation with a previous employer. Verbal references allow you to ask follow-up questions, probe on specific conduct concerns and get a much clearer picture of how someone has behaved in past roles, particularly in environments involving children.
The regulation recognises this. The requirement for two verbal references isn't just a procedural box to tick. It's designed to ensure that providers are actively seeking out information about a candidate's suitability, not just collecting paperwork.
How Referoo supports compliance
Referoo's phone reference functionality is built to help providers meet these requirements without creating more admin.
Within Referoo Hub, you can conduct and record structured verbal reference checks directly in the platform. The process is straightforward: open the candidate record, access the phone questionnaire, ask each question and record responses as you go. Once the call is complete, you can send the referee an identity check to verify who you spoke with. That verification is logged automatically.
Every reference completed through Referoo is recorded with the date, time and referee details, giving you a clear, timestamped audit trail for your compliance files.
For ECEC providers who also need to run background screening, Referoo Hub brings ID checks, police checks and working with children checks all in one place.
Structured questionnaire templates for child-safe hiring
One of the most practical features for ECEC providers is the ability to build custom questionnaire templates that prompt referees on prior allegations, conduct with children and suitability for working in a child-safe environment.
This is particularly important for meeting the scenario-based questioning requirement in the regulation. Having a structured template means every referee is asked the same questions, responses are captured consistently and your process is defensible if it's ever reviewed.
What to do now
If your organisation doesn't yet have a documented process that satisfies all three requirements, the time to act is now. The regulation is already in effect, and providers will need to be able to demonstrate compliance.
A good starting point is reviewing your current staffing policies and procedures and identifying where verbal references, scenario-based interview questions and employment screening are formally documented. If those elements aren't clearly defined, they need to be.
Referoo can help you put the operational side in place. The platform supports verbal references, structured questionnaires, background checks and audit trail reporting in one workflow.
Want to see how it works for ECEC providers? Book a demo at referoo.com.