South Australia’s Education Minister Blair Boyer has conceded that critical reforms to the childcare sector should have been implemented earlier, following heightened public concern over child safety and regulatory oversight.

South Australia has become the first Australian state to implement a formal ban on mobile phones within early childhood services. The new regulation is designed to address concerns related to child safety, privacy, and professional conduct in early learning environments.

On 8 July 2025, the Little Shining Stars Early Learning Centre in Klemzig, Adelaide, became the epicenter of a national outcry following revelations that staff had photographed children’s injuries and nappy rash using centre-owned devices. These images were stored in ways deemed “highly inappropriate” by South Australia's Education Standards Board (ESB), prompting a swift emergency investigation.

Golden Grove High School in Adelaide has removed the outer doors from the bathrooms to create gender-neutral bathrooms and hopes to provide "greater safety" for students when using stalls. This has received tons of criticism from parents.