Protection for owners and boards
Governance accountability doesn't have a pause button. You carry this responsibility, even when you're not the one in the room.
ECEDocs provides a simple, scalable policy system that's easy to implement across multiple centres. It's how you reduce risk, improve consistency, and ensure peace of mind. As your operation grows, ECEDocs grows with you, keeping every location aligned and every ERO visit stress-free.
What you are personally accountable for
Under New Zealand's ECE licensing requirements, the licence holder, including the governing body, is responsible for meeting licensing criteria. It doesn't matter who is managing things day-to-day. And under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, officers, including board members and directors, have a personal duty of due diligence. You can hand someone the task. You can't hand over the duty.
What this means for you:
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Licensing compliance sits with the licence holder, including your governance group.
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Health and safety due diligence is a personal duty for officers under the law, not something you can delegate entirely.
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Employment obligations, like fair process and good record keeping, can create exposure for the board through the organisation you govern.
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Reputational risk follows the organisation's name, and in some cases, its leadership.
What happens when things go wrong
Compliance isn't just a job for your centre manager
ERO now reviews services against five domains, including leadership, governance, and health and safety. If a review finds significant issues, the service moves onto a closer compliance pathway rather than a standard quality review. From there, services can be placed on a provisional licence, it can be suspended if children are at immediate risk, or canceled entirely if conditions aren't met.
In 2025, 80 services had some form of licensing action taken against them, including 8 cancellations and 11 suspensions.
How ECEDocs works
Get professional online policies
Your online policies include everything you need to meet licensing criteria and legislative requirements.
We monitor the legislation
New Zealand policy experts monitor for changes. We make updates as requirements change, so your policies are always compliant.
You act on policy updates
Our policy review process keeps you on track, allows you to invite feedback from staff and whānau, and guides you to take action.
Backed by local policy experts
We offer guidance to help you stay compliant. And if you get stuck, our team can support you to find the answer you need.
Spotlight on high-risk areas
ERO's 2026 ELFI assessment framework
01
Health and safety
Officers have a personal duty to understand risks, resource them properly, and check the correct process is being followed. It cannot be delegated to someone else.
02
HR and employment
Employment is a governance issue that extends beyond HR. Boards commonly get pulled into disputes due to an inconsistent process or an outdated policy that can't be defended.
03
Information Privacy
Your service holds sensitive information. Under the Privacy Act, you are responsible for collecting, storing, and sharing that information properly, and responding correctly if something goes wrong.
Download our guide to risk for service owners and boards
Don't just take our word for it
"As a small community kindergarten, having resources that save us
time and help us stay on top of our compliance requirements is really
valuable.”"
Craighead Kindergarten