How to dispose of a children's documentation in your service

The daily diary you keep on children's learning and care is a record under the National Quality Framework. That means you cannot simply bin it when the page runs out, and you cannot keep it forever either. Both have consequences. This page walks you through what the regulations say, how long you need to hold the documentation, and the safe way to dispose of it once the retention period ends. The short video shows the dismantle method for coiled diaries.

Why this matters

Children's diaries usually capture observations, routines, photos, learning notes and sometimes incident detail. Under Australian law these are personal information about children, and in many cases about parents or staff members too. Two separate frameworks apply at the same time:

The Education and Care Services National Law and Regulations set the minimum retention periods you must meet. Regulation 183 is the core rule. It tells you how long each type of record must be stored in a safe and secure place. Quality Area 7 of the National Quality Standard ties this to your governance and leadership rating.

The Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) and the Australian Privacy Principles set what you must do once you no longer need the record. Australian Privacy Principle 11.2 requires you to take reasonable steps to destroy or de-identify personal information once it is no longer needed for the purpose it was collected, unless a law requires you to keep it.

Holding a diary longer than you need to is not a safe default. It enlarges the data you are responsible for protecting, and in a breach the harm to the family is larger too.

How long you must keep a children's records

The retention rules sit in Regulation 183 of the Education and Care Services National Regulations. The clock that applies depends on what the diary contains.

A standard daily diary with observations, photos and learning notes Three years after the record was made. This is the catch-all in Regulation 183(2)(d) for "any other record".

Documentation that contains a record of the children's enrolments Three years after the end of the year the child last attended the service.

Documentation that contains incident, injury, trauma or illness information about a child Until the child is aged 25 years. This is the longest retention bracket in Regulation 183 and it applies to the entire record that captures the incident, not just the incident page.

A diary that contains a record of a child who died at the service or as a result of an incident at the service Seven years after the death.

If a single diary contains more than one type of information, you must keep it for the longest period that applies to any part of it. In practice this is why most services separate incident, injury, trauma and illness records from the daily diary.

A note on the 45-year figure. You may have read that ACECQA released guidance in 2023 recommending that records related to actual or alleged child sexual abuse be kept for at least 45 years from the date the record was created. The Federal Minister for Early Childhood Education confirmed in writing in September 2024 that this 45-year figure is best practice, not a legal requirement. It flows from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. If a diary captures information of this kind, hold it under your child safe policy, not under the standard three-year rule.

What "the time is up" actually means

The end of the retention period is not a signal to throw the diary in the recycling bin. It is the point at which two things change. First, the National Regulations stop requiring you to hold it. Second, the Privacy Act starts requiring you to destroy or de-identify it unless another law tells you to keep it. The two rules switch over on the same day.

Before disposal, check:

The diary is past every applicable retention period in Regulation 183, including the longest one if more than one applies. The record is not subject to a current request, complaint, investigation, notification to the regulator, insurance claim or court order. If it is, hold it until that matter is finalised and your legal advice tells you it is safe to destroy. You have noted the disposal in your record-keeping register so the service can demonstrate the action was deliberate and compliant.

Acceptable disposal methods

Queensland's regulator and ACECQA's record-keeping guidance both point to the same options for paper diaries. Use the one that fits the level of personal information in the diary.

Return the diary to the family (single child records). Reasonable for a standard children's portfolio with photos and learning notes. Document who collected it and when. Cross-cut shred on site. Suitable for paper records containing names, dates of birth, addresses or photos. A strip shredder is not enough for sensitive material. Engage a professional secure-destruction service. Recommended for volume disposal, sensitive content, or where you want a Certificate of Destruction for your records. Look for a provider that complies with AS/NZS 4500 or NAID AAA certification. For electronic diary content, delete it from the live system, empty deleted-items or trash folders, and confirm with your software provider how long the data persists in their backups. Ask for written confirmation that the data has been removed from all environments.

If you are not certain which rule sets apply, do not destroy the diary. Hold it and ask your regulatory authority or legal adviser.

Quick reference

For a standard daily diary, three years after the record was made. For a diary tied to enrolment, three years after the child's last attendance. For a diary containing incident, injury, trauma or illness information, until the child turns 25. For a diary connected to a child's death at the service, seven years after the death. When in doubt, hold the record and seek advice.