Perfect for ACECQA’s Perfect for ACECQA’s Facilitating Supervision and Child Safety through Building Design – Regulation 115 (July 2026)
By BEST Childcare Consulting
Supervision has always been one of the most important responsibilities in early childhood education and care. We know that children must be adequately supervised, we know educator-to-child ratios must be maintained, and many services already use ACECQA’s Active Supervision in 6 Steps as part of staff induction, supervision plans, professional development and everyday practice.
Now ACECQA has released another useful resource that helps us take our understanding of supervision further.
The new Adequate Supervision: Active, Dynamic and Effective Practice infographic does not replace ACECQA’s existing supervision guidance or its six active-supervision steps. Instead, it helps educators look at the bigger picture of adequate supervision.
It describes three interconnected aspects of good supervision:
ACTIVE – intentional and engaged
DYNAMIC – responsive and flexible
EFFECTIVE – reflective and evaluative
Together, these provide a very practical framework for services to consider not only what educators do while supervising children, but also how supervision changes as circumstances change and how services evaluate whether their supervision practices are actually working.
That makes this new resource particularly valuable for staff meetings, induction, critical reflection, supervision-plan reviews and Quality Improvement Planning.
Supervision is part of a child safe culture
Adequate supervision is also a fundamental part of creating a child-safe culture. While Western Australia does not currently have a separate legislated set of mandatory Child Safe Standards applying to childcare services, this does not mean child-safe practice is optional. Many child-safety responsibilities are already embedded within the National Law, National Regulations and National Quality Standard applying to WA education and care services. This includes the legal obligation to adequately supervise children under section 165, take every reasonable precaution to protect children from harm and hazards under section 167, and meet NQS Element 2.2.1. WA’s NQS also now explicitly strengthens the focus on child safety within Quality Areas 2 and 7.
Supervision should therefore be understood as much more than preventing accidents. Strong supervision is a preventative child-safety strategy. It helps educators identify changes in children’s behaviour, monitor interactions between children, reduce blind spots and opportunities for harm, recognise when a child or educator needs additional support, and respond before situations escalate. ACECQA’s NQF Child Safe Culture Guide specifically connects supervision with protecting children, including minimising situations where educators are alone with children and carefully considering environments such as bathrooms, playhouses and other areas where visibility may be reduced.
So, Has the Requirement for Adequate Supervision Changed?
The new infographic is best understood as additional guidance about practice, rather than a new definition that replaces the existing requirement.
At the top of the new resource, ACECQA reiterates the fundamental expectations underpinning adequate supervision. These include maintaining adequate supervision of all children and young people, protecting them from harm and hazard and upholding their safety, rights and best interests as the paramount consideration.
The infographic then adds some important practice considerations. Services should:
- take a risk-based approach to supervision
- use professional judgement
- organise staffing to support continuity
- design environments to facilitate visibility, movement and safety
- consider the service’s unique context
- plan educational programs that provide safe, engaging and appropriately supervised experiences.
This is important because adequate supervision cannot be reduced to a single formula.
It depends on the children, the educators, the environment, the activity, the risks and what is happening at that particular moment.
Where Does the New Resource Fit With ACECQA’s Existing Supervision Guidance?
Think of ACECQA’s supervision resources as complementary rather than separate.
The National Law and National Quality Standard establish the requirement to adequately supervise children and protect them from harm and hazards.
ACECQA’s Active Supervision in 6 Steps then provides educators with six very practical strategies for supervising children:
1. Set up the environment
2. Position educators
3. Scan and count
4. Listen
5. Anticipate behaviour
6. Engage and redirect
ACECQA – Active Supervision in 6 Steps
The new Active, Dynamic and Effective Practice infographic effectively widens the lens. It asks services to think beyond: “What should I be doing while I supervise?” and also consider: “How should my supervision change when circumstances change?” and: “How do we know whether our supervision practices are actually effective?” That is where active, dynamic and effective supervision fit together.
1. ACTIVE SUPERVISION
Intentional and Engaged
This is the area that will probably feel most familiar to educators because it strongly complements ACECQA’s existing six steps of active supervision.
The new infographic defines active supervision as an intentional approach where a person is present, aware and actively engaged in supervision.
ACECQA identifies practices including maintaining clear lines of sight and/or sound, positioning and repositioning, scanning environments, conducting regular head counts, listening for changes in activity or noise and communicating with other educators about children’s whereabouts, activity and behaviour.
You can immediately see the connection with the six steps.
Set up the environment
The new resource reinforces the importance of using environmental design and set-ups to support visibility, movement and engagement.
Consider shelving, play equipment, furniture, bathrooms, gates, doors, sleep areas and indoor/outdoor spaces.
Can educators effectively see, hear and reach children?
Position educators
Positioning remains important—but notice that ACECQA now refers specifically to positioning and repositioning depending on children’s movements.
That one word—repositioning—is important. A supervision position should never mean: “This is where I stand for the next hour.” Educators move because children move.
Scan and count
The new resource reinforces regular scanning and head counts as part of maintaining awareness.
Listen
Listening remains an important supervision strategy. Educators should be alert to changes in children’s activity, behaviour or noise.
Anticipate behaviour
Knowing children well helps educators anticipate what may happen next, identify hazards and recognise emerging risks.
Engage and redirect
Perhaps most importantly, supervision is not passive observation.
The new resource specifically identifies meaningful engagement with children as a supervision approach and encourages educators to observe, engage with and respond to children’s interactions with peers.
So ACECQA’s existing six steps remain an excellent practical tool.
The new resource does not make them obsolete—it strengthens them.
2. DYNAMIC SUPERVISION
Responsive and Flexible
This is perhaps the most useful addition for services to explore with educators. ACECQA describes dynamic supervision as: a flexible, responsive approach where the level and style of supervision adapts in real time based on the situation. In other words: Supervision should change when the situation changes.
Imagine an outdoor environment where three educators have established excellent supervision positions. Then: a child begins challenging themselves on climbing equipment; another child becomes distressed; one educator needs to accompany a child inside; several children suddenly move into one area; a group dynamic begins to change; or families start arriving for collection. The supervision plan that was appropriate five minutes earlier may no longer be appropriate.
Dynamic supervision means educators recognise this and respond in real time.
ACECQA’s new resource specifically identifies:
- predicting and responding to risk
- maintaining closer proximity during higher-risk activities
- responding to changing environments and routines
- responding to individual children’s needs
- adapting to different group dynamics
- considering peer-to-peer relationships
- recognising that supervision needs can change according to the time of day
- adjusting during educator movement and staffing changes
- increasing awareness during busy routines and transitions.
This is why supervision cannot simply be a laminated map on the wall.
Supervision Plans Should Guide Practice—Not Restrict It
One sentence in ACECQA’s new infographic deserves particular attention:
Supervision plans should support responsive decision-making rather than fixed supervision arrangements.
This is an excellent critical-reflection opportunity. Many services have supervision plans showing educator positions—and these can be extremely useful. But educators should understand why those positions exist. If circumstances change, professional judgement may require educators to reposition themselves. A supervision plan should therefore support educators’ decision-making rather than create a false sense that adequate supervision has been achieved simply because everyone is standing in their allocated place.
Knowing Your Children Is Part of Supervision
The new resource also gives significant weight to educators’ knowledge of children.
Dynamic supervision includes using existing knowledge and deep awareness of children and young people to determine levels of supervision.
This makes supervision relational. Consider two children using the same climbing equipment. One may have confidently used it every day for months. Another may be attempting it for the first time. Or perhaps a normally confident child is tired, upset or distracted today. The physical environment hasn’t changed. The ratio hasn’t changed. But the level of supervision required may have changed. That is dynamic supervision.
Even Educator Wellbeing Can Affect Supervision
An interesting inclusion in the new resource is ACECQA’s reference to educators observing cues in other educators, including signs of fatigue or tiredness that may indicate support, engagement or redirection is required. This reinforces that adequate supervision is a team responsibility. Educators should be watching the whole environment—including whether colleagues need support.
A strong supervision culture allows an educator to say: “I need some help here.” “Can you cover this area?”“I’m taking this child inside—can you adjust your position?” without hesitation.
3. EFFECTIVE SUPERVISION
Reflective and Evaluative
The third part of the new resource moves supervision from individual educator practice into whole-service continuous improvement. ACECQA describes effective supervision as the processes used to determine the quality and impact of supervision practices by individuals and across teams.
In simple terms: We supervise—but do we actually know whether our supervision arrangements are working? This requires reflection and evidence.
Incidents and Near Misses Should Teach Us Something
One of the strongest messages in the new resource is the importance of analysing: incidents, injuries and near misses to determine supervision needs. Instead of treating an incident as an isolated event, services should look for patterns.
For example:
Where did it happen?
What time did it happen?
What routine was occurring?
Was there a transition underway?
Where were educators positioned?
Was there a blind spot?
Had staffing arrangements temporarily changed?
Have similar near misses occurred before?
A near miss where nobody was injured can be extremely valuable information. It gives the service an opportunity to improve before something more serious occurs.
Effective Supervision Is a Whole-Service Responsibility
The new resource encourages services to consider much more than individual educator positioning.
Effective supervision includes reviewing:
- policies and procedures
- supervision plans
- risk assessments
- staffing arrangements
- rostering
- continuity of educators
- room environments
- communication
- physical environments
- children’s needs, behaviours and routines
- induction
- mentoring
- professional learning.
This is where the new resource becomes particularly useful for Nominated Supervisors, Educational Leaders, Responsible Persons and Approved Providers. Supervision is not simply: “Were the educators watching?” It is also: “Did our systems enable educators to supervise effectively?”
Children and Families Are Part of Effective Supervision Too
Another valuable aspect of the new infographic is that ACECQA specifically includes both children and families.
Children and young people can be involved in their own safety by understanding boundaries and contributing to agreements that support supervision.
Families can also be educated about the importance of supervision and their own contribution to keeping all children and young people safe while at the service.
This creates useful opportunities for services to explain things such as:
why gates must never be held open;
why children should not be allowed to leave a room simply because their parent has arrived;
why educators may need to finish supervising before having an extended conversation;
why collection procedures matter;
and why families should immediately tell an educator if they notice a gate, door or potential supervision concern.
Adequate supervision becomes part of the service’s shared child-safe culture.
What Does All of This Mean for Educators?
The easiest way to remember ACECQA’s expanded approach is:
ACTIVE
What am I doing right now to supervise?
Am I positioned appropriately?
Can I see and/or hear?
Am I scanning and counting?
Am I listening?
Am I communicating?
Am I meaningfully engaged?
DYNAMIC
What has changed—and do I need to change too?
Have children moved?
Has the risk changed?
Has a colleague moved?
Has the group dynamic changed?
Is a child tired, distressed or attempting something challenging?
Is this now a higher-risk situation?
EFFECTIVE
How do we know our supervision is working?
What are our incidents and near misses telling us?
Are there recurring blind spots?
Do we need to change the environment?
Are our staffing arrangements effective?
Do educators understand the supervision plan?
Does our policy reflect actual practice?
What needs improving?
That is a very useful framework to take directly into a staff meeting.
Ratios Still Matter—but Ratios Are Not the Whole Story
Educator-to-child ratios remain an essential legal requirement. However, adequate supervision requires educators and service leaders to consider much more than simply whether the service has the required number of educators.
The new infographic reinforces this through its emphasis on risk-based decision-making, professional judgement, staffing arrangements, environment design and the unique context of each service.
A group may technically meet ratio requirements while supervision arrangements still need to be strengthened. That is why adequate supervision should always be considered in context.
Connecting the New Resource to the National Quality Standard
Although adequate supervision most directly relates to Quality Area 2 – Children’s Health and Safety, the new resource demonstrates why strong supervision practice reaches much further across the NQS.
QA1 – Educational Program and Practice
The new guidance recognises that educators should plan learning opportunities that balance safety with independence, challenge, exploration and children’s agency.
Supervision should support learning—not unnecessarily restrict it.
QA2 – Children’s Health and Safety
Adequate supervision protects children from harm and hazards and supports children’s safety and wellbeing. This remains the central quality-area connection.
QA3 – Physical Environment
Environment design and set-up should support visibility, safe movement and educator engagement.
QA4 – Staffing Arrangements
The new resource specifically connects supervision with staffing changes, educator movement, effective rostering, continuity and team communication.
QA5 – Relationships with Children
Knowing children deeply helps educators determine appropriate levels of supervision and anticipate changing needs and behaviour.
QA6 – Collaborative Partnerships with Families and Communities
Families have a role in understanding and supporting safe supervision practices while at the service.
QA7 – Governance and Leadership
Policies, procedures, risk assessments, induction, mentoring, professional learning, incident analysis and continuous improvement all contribute to effective supervision.
Using the New Resource for Critical Reflection and Your QIP
The infographic should not simply be printed and placed on the staff-room wall. Use it. At your next meeting, divide your supervision discussion into three headings:
ACTIVE – What are we doing well?
DYNAMIC – How well do we respond when circumstances change?
EFFECTIVE – What evidence tells us whether our supervision is working?
Then consider whether anything identified needs to be added to your Quality Improvement Plan.
For example:
Embedded in service operations
Active, dynamic and effective supervision practices had become embedded throughout everyday service operations. Educators understood that supervision required intentional engagement and ongoing positioning, scanning, listening, communication and knowledge of children, while remaining responsive to changing environments, routines, group dynamics and individual needs.
Informed by critical reflection
The service had critically reflected upon the effectiveness of supervision practices using incident, injury and near-miss data, educator observations, identified blind spots and changing environmental risks. This reflection had resulted in adjustments to supervision plans, educator positioning, environmental arrangements, risk assessments and staffing practices.
Shaped by meaningful engagement with families and/or the community
Children and families had contributed to the service’s shared understanding of safety and supervision. Children had participated in discussions about boundaries and safe practices, while families had been provided with information about their role in supporting safe supervision practices during arrival, departure and while present within the service.
Where Does This Leave ACECQA’s 6 Steps?
Keep using them.
The six steps remain an excellent practical tool for educators:
Set up the environment → Position educators → Scan and count → Listen → Anticipate behaviour → Engage and redirect.
The new resource gives services another layer through which to understand those practices:
ACTIVE asks whether educators are intentional, aware and engaged.
DYNAMIC asks whether supervision responds and changes in real time.
EFFECTIVE asks whether the service evaluates its supervision practices and continuously improves them.
So rather than viewing ACECQA’s resources as separate pieces of advice, services can use them together.
The 6 Steps tell us HOW to actively supervise.
Dynamic supervision reminds us that HOW we supervise must change as circumstances change.
Effective supervision asks us to evaluate whether what we are doing actually works.
And together, they contribute to adequate supervision.
Official ACECQA Resources
NEW – Adequate Supervision: Active, Dynamic and Effective Practice
This is the new infographic discussed throughout this article. It provides the active, dynamic and effective framework and key considerations for each area. The attached resource describes adequate supervision as requiring a risk-based approach, professional judgement and appropriately supervised educational experiences.
ACECQA – Adequate Supervision Resources
ACECQA – Active Supervision in 6 Steps
ACECQA – Active Supervision: Ensuring Safety and Promoting Learning
ACECQA – Adequate Supervision FAQs and Reflective Questions
ACECQA – Element 2.2.1 Supervision
Building Educator Capability Through Bringing Up Great Kids (BUGK)
Adequate supervision is strengthened when educators not only know where to position themselves and what to look for but also understand children’s behaviour and have practical strategies to respond before situations escalate.
At BEST Childcare Consulting, Jennifer delivers Bringing Up Great Kids (BUGK) training specifically adapted for early childhood education and care settings, helping educators understand behaviour as communication, recognise early signs of dysregulation, respond relationally rather than reactively, and know when to seek support from another educator. These skills align strongly with ACECQA’s emphasis on using deep knowledge of children, anticipating risk, adapting supervision in real time and maintaining meaningful engagement with children.
BUGK can also support a stronger child-safe culture by giving educators more strategies for managing challenging moments calmly and appropriately, particularly when supervision demands are high. It is not a mandatory ACECQA supervision course, but it a valuable professional-learning approach because well-supported educators are more likely to recognise when a child, colleague or situation needs a different response. This is especially relevant to ACECQA’s new guidance, which highlights educator fatigue, team communication, mentoring and professional learning as factors that can influence effective supervision.
BEST Childcare Consulting
ACECQA’s new resource does not mean services need to throw away what they already know about supervision. Instead, it gives us a more complete way of thinking about adequate supervision. Good supervision is not just about seeing children. It is active because educators are intentional, present and engaged. It is dynamic because educators respond as children, environments, risks and circumstances change. And it is effective because services reflect on their practice, examine what their evidence is telling them and continuously improve.
Perhaps the most important message for educators is this: Don’t just ask, “Am I supervising?” Ask: “Is my supervision appropriate for what is happening right now—and how do we know it is working?” That is where ACECQA’s existing six steps and this new resource come together.
Jennifer’s childcare-specific BUGK training with BEST helps turn supervision from simply “watching children” into understanding children, anticipating what may happen next, and giving educators practical strategies to respond safely, calmly and confidently.
Approved Providers are expected to maintain adequate supervision, anticipate behaviour, respond dynamically, maintain a child-safe culture and ensure educators have the skills to respond appropriately, then investing in behaviour and relationship-based professional development such as Jennifer’s childcare-adapted BUGK training is a practical way BEST believes providers can strengthen educator capability in meeting those responsibilities.
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