It is hoped a new website to name-and-shame dodgy childcare centres will encourage all operators to lift their standards.
The DoCS-run website will list centres who have been prosecuted for serious health and safety breaches, allowing parents to decide who they want to look after their child.
DoCS Minister Kevin Greene says a number of centres will be on the list when it is launched on September 4.
"At this stage we're looking at about ten childcare centres that would be required," he said.
"But the most important thing is it adds to the regulations the strength of childcare in New South Wales.
"I would hope that in future we'd have no one on this list. That would be the aim."
Premier Morris Iemma said the site would give parents the information they needed to help them choose who they wanted to care for their children.
"This will involve those serious breaches, not for minor things like forgetting to close a lid on a rubbish bin, but serious breaches of licence conditions ... as well as prosecutions," he said.