20 April updates as the 2026 Licensing Criteria take effect
- 11 hours ago
- 6 min read
Summary of policy changes and actions for centres
This information relates to the Licensing Criteria for Early Childhood Education
& Care Centres 2008 as amended 20 April.
Changes throughout the policy set
We have updated the criteria numbering throughout all policies, as well as updating Ministry of Education links to go to the new guidance pages.
Changes to individual policies
We have updated the wording in individual policies as needed in response to licensing criteria changes. Read about these updates and the actions you should take below. For specific information about policy wording changes, go to the "Recent changes" tab in each policy on your ECEDocs policy website.
Updates and actions
Self-Review and Internal Evaluation renamed to Operational Review
The focus of GMA104 (previously GMA6) has changed from "self-review and internal evaluation" that "helps the service maintain and improve the quality of its education and care" to having "an ongoing review process that supports the service to maintain and implement operational policies and practices". The policy's name and wording have been updated to reflect this change.
The Ministry's guidance says "You will need a document that explains how your service reviews its operational policies and practices." ECEDocs has a template to help you meet this requirement (see below).
If you have supplied a document outlining your self-review/evaluation process, it will no longer be linked in your policy.
Resource: Review Process Overview
ECEDocs has a template called “Review Process Overview” that you can adapt. See the “Admin note” in the Operational Review policy.
Parent Involvement and Information
Centres now only need to display their licence certificate and contact info (for questions and complaints). You don’t need to stop displaying other information, and you can choose to make information available in other ways.
The focus is now on informing parents and whānau how to access certain information. ECEDocs has a template to help you meet this requirement (see below).
Resource: Parent access to information (GMA101-102)
ECEDocs has a sample letter/poster for whānau you can adapt. See the “Admin note” in the Parent Involvement and Information policy.
Concerns and Complaints
Centres must prominently display "the name and contact details of a person who parents, whānau and visitors can contact for questions about the service and/or to make a complaint about the service’s operation". The default tailorable wording has been updated to reflect this.
Note that ECEDocs has a Concerns and Complaints Process poster you can use in your centre.
Resource: Concerns and Complaints Process
ECEDocs has a poster you can print and display. See the “Admin note” in the Concerns and Complaints Process policy.
Enrolment and Attendance
Parents no longer need to give permission for a centre to administer basic first aid preparations.
The policy has been updated to reflect that the health information centres will now collect is about medication needed for an ongoing condition (now "category ii" medicines).
Hazard and Risk Management
HS108 now requires “heavy furniture, fixtures and equipment that could fall or topple and cause serious injury or damage” to be checked daily. There were no policy wording changes about this but your hazards checklist should now include items that could fall/topple.
Cleaning and Laundry
It is no longer a requirement to have a laundry procedure but the Ministry says "Creating a procedure for everyone to follow will help you to make sure linen is hygienically laundered consistently off-site or on-site." (see "Tools to help you comply").
Centres can use the tailorable (highlighted) wording in this policy to give information about a procedure (e.g. available to staff in their handbook, kept on the wall, reviewed regularly).
Injury, Illness, and Incident Reporting and Review
Requirements to notify the Ministry about certain events have been strengthened. We have added policy wording to explain this.
Emergency management
We've updated the core wording to remove the requirement to share the centre's emergency plan with parents.
Emergencies and Evacuation Procedures
The required frequency for holding emergency drills has changed from every 3 months to every 4 months. We have updated the policy wording to reflect this. If you choose to change to 4-monthly drills, make sure you still meet FENZ requirements.
Food and Nutrition
Centres now require a means of keeping perishable food at or below 5 degrees C (rather than 4 degrees). We have updated the wording related to "kitchen facilities" to reflect this.
It is no longer a requirement to provide parents with the Ministry of Health's Reducing food-related choking pamphlet at enrolment – centres must tell parents how to access the pamphlet. We have added this to our "Parent access to information (GMA101-102)" resource (see above).
Medicines
The categorisation of medicines, and when parents must give written authority to administer medicine, has changed. We have updated the policy wording to reflect this.
Excursions
It is now a requirement to notify the Ministry if a child is left behind or goes missing during an excursion. Parents now also need to consent to the "location, and method of travel". We have updated the policy wording to reflect these changes.
Animal welfare and care
There have been changes to the "Animal safety and hygiene" criterion, and we have updated the policy accordingly:
"animals can be kept separate from food preparation/eating spaces" (previous LC did not specify)
"all animals can be restrained appropriately if they pose a risk to children (e.g. leash or cage)" (previous LC wording was "All animals able to be restrained.")
"children and staff wash their hands thoroughly after handling animals" (previous LC did not specify handwashing).
Building Environment Management
To meet HS118, we have added "Any thermometers fixed on walls are positioned out of reach of children, and are no higher than 1500mm above the floor."
Philosophy and Values
Centres are no longer required to have a philosophy statement. We have updated the policy wording to reflect this.
We suggest keeping your philosophy statement at least until your next annual review. At that time, decide whether you want to keep it or express your philosophy/values in some other way.
Planning, Reporting, and External Evaluation
It is no longer a requirement for centres with a full licence to have an annual plan or annual budget. The policy still has wording about using these tools/processes as they are good practice.
Note that having an annual plan and budget is no longer mandated but it is still good practice. If your annual plan is working for you, you don’t need to make any changes.
Child Protection
When reviewing their child protection policies and procedures, centres are now required to assess how well the service's policies and procedures have supported or would support the service’s response to child abuse and neglect. We have updated the policy wording to reflect this.
Toileting and Nappy Changing
The Ministry has moved keeping records of nappy changes to "best practice". The Ministry states "Keeping a record of when and by whom a nappy was changed is a helpful practice. It supports communication with parents and caregivers and provides clarity if any questions arise."
This policy retains wording about keeping records of nappy changes as the Ministry may still require/request evidence of nappies being changed regularly to ensure services are meeting the health and wellbeing needs of children. Keeping records also provides evidence for parents if they raise a concern about nappy changes.
Income and Expenditure
Parents and whānau must now be provided with information on how to access certain information rather than needing to provide parents with written information (i.e. GMA102 – "the amount and details of the expenditure of any Ministry of Education funding received by the service"). We have updated the policy wording to reflect this.
Actions
Policy | Action type | Description | |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Operational Review | Update process | Document your review process to show what policy reviews are carried out, how often, how (method), and by who. See ECEDocs resource: Review Process Overview. |
| Operational Review | Tailor policy wording | Submit your preferred wording about sharing and implementing changes. See the new, tailorable "Action required" wording at the end of the policy. |
| Parent Involvement & Information | Update process | Decide how you will let parents know how to access key information. See ECEDocs resource: Parent access to information (GMA101-102) |
| Concerns & Complaints | Tailor policy wording | Check that the tailorable wording in your Concerns and Complaints policy about how you share complaints information with whānau is still correct. Submit a wording change if needed. |
| Enrolment & Attendance | Update form | Check your enrolment form to ensure it reflects Licensing Criteria changes, especially the medicines section. Use the Ministry’s latest sample enrolment agreement form (linked in the policy). |
| Hazard & Risk Management | Update process | Check that making sure “heavy furniture, fixtures, and equipment” cannot fall or topple is included in your daily hazards checklist. |
| Cleaning and Laundry | Tailor policy wording | (Optional) Add wording to the Cleaning and Laundry policy to state how you manage laundry (e.g. using a laundry checklist). See the new, tailorable "Action required" wording at the end of the policy. |
| Injury, Illness, & Incident Reporting & Review | Update process | Ensure you are aware of when to notify the Ministry about serious injuries, illnesses, or incidents involving a child while at the service. |
