Regulatory correspondence
CLIENT
Early Childhood Regulatory Authority, Queensland
PROJECT BRIEF
Develop a template for a ‘show cause’ notice for legislative breaches using plain language and custom options to match specific circumstances.
The Early Childhood Regulatory Authority (ECRA) is a branch of the Queensland Government’s Department of Education, responsible for monitoring compliance against the National Quality Framework and the Educational and Care Services Act 2013 (Qld) in early childhood.
The ECRA’s function is primarily a regulatory one, conducting investigations into incidents and complaints relating to the early childhood sector. These investigations have legal consequences (such as determining future fitness to work) and must follow a strict protocol.
The ECRA engaged Red Pony to rewrite a confidential show cause notice, intended for an employee of a service found to be in breach of the National Law.
Having reviewed a range of current correspondence, Red Pony suggested a major restructure to the information. Our intention was to reduce the complexity while clearly laying out the process of the investigation, the current findings and, most importantly, the potential consequences for the recipient.
We then undertook a major rewrite to provide a more logical flow of information using plain language. It was important to use a simplified vocabulary given the high proportion of industry employees with English as an additional language.
Red Pony took great care and worked closely with the ECRA legal team to ensure that the information provided in the notices was comprehensive and complied with the relevant legislation.
We then workshopped the different scenarios for issuing a notice with the ECRA project team and used this input to produce a template with selectable options and prompt text to guide compliance officers in customising each show cause notice to match the specific circumstances of an incident.
“Red Pony worked closely with the ECRA legal team to ensure that the information provided in the notices complied with the relevant legislation.”