Sector Alert

Child safety training deadlines and requirements 

Creating and maintaining child safe environments is a shared responsibility across the early childhood education and care sector. To strengthen child safeguarding practices and support the safety and wellbeing of every child, everyone involved in providing education and care under the National Quality Framework (NQF) must now complete new mandatory child safety training.

NQF-regulated services include:

• long day care
• family day care
• outside school hours care
• preschools and kindergartens.

Under the Family Assistance Law, the training is also mandatory for In Home Care and Community Child Care Fund Restricted (CCCFR) services that are not regulated under the NQF.

What does the training involve? 

National child safety training consists of:

Foundations of child safety

• Course 1: Understanding child safety
• Course 2: Understanding and identifying child abuse and neglect

Advanced child safety

• Course 3: Creating child safe cultures through everyday practice
• Course 4: Responding to safeguarding concerns
• Course 5: Leading and governing child safety

Courses 1 and 2 have been available since February 2026. Courses 3 and 4 became available on 31 July 2026. Course 5 is expected to be available from 30 September 2026.

Read the full Sector Alert here.