Transporting children safely
There is significant risk of critical injury to a child left unattended on a vehicle or bus. Services must implement safe transportation requirements and practices at all times to prevent serious incidents.
Look Before You Lock
Every day, families across NSW rely on early childhood education and care (ECEC) services to transport their children safely.
ECEC services that transport children play a critical role in ensuring children are kept safe and must have strategies in place to protect children in their care.
The department’s safety awareness program ‘Look Before You Lock’ aims to heighten awareness of the serious dangers of leaving children unattended in a vehicle.
The program promotes the importance of adopting safe transport practices, including the simple yet effective routine of looking before you lock a vehicle to make sure no children are left unattended. When transporting children looking before you lock can be a life-saving routine.
Services are encouraged to use the following resources to promote the ‘Look Before You Lock’ safety message to families and the community.
- Social media tile 1 (PNG, 77 KB)
- Social media tile 2 (PNG, 80 KB)
- Social media tile 3 (PNG, 132 KB)
Regulatory requirements
The regulatory requirement for a safe arrival of children risk assessment, procedure and policy came into effect in October 2023.
Approved providers are required to ensure services have policies and procedures in place for the safe arrival of children (Regulation 102AAB). Providers are also required to conduct a risk assessment at least once every 12 months, and as soon as practicable after becoming aware of any circumstances that may affect the safe arrival of children travelling between an education and care service and any other education and early childhood service (Regulation 102AAC).
Resources:
- Safe arrival of children information sheet (PDF, 443 KB)
- Safe arrival of children policy and procedure guidelines, ACECQA (PDF, 285 KB)
- For more information and guidance, visit ACECQA.
Regulatory guidance note
The department’s safe transportation of children attending ECEC services regulatory guidance note provides guidance on regulatory requirements, compliant practices or behaviours for ECEC services and providers.
Additional resources to support your transport practice
The department has partnered with Kids and Traffic to develop resources to guide and assist NSW services in implementing best practice in the safe transportation of children.
Kids and Traffic is the NSW Early Childhood Road Safety Education Program. It forms part of the statewide road safety education program of Transport for NSW.
The resources will help you to:
- understand and comply with transport-related regulatory requirements under the NQF
- improve your service’s transport practices, in line with best practice guidelines
- improve your existing policies, procedures and risk assessments for transportation and excursions involving transport
- understand where to find additional information and support on transport and road safety.
Written resources
Access the resources below or on the Kids and Traffic’s website.
- Transporting children safely (PDF 4 MB)
- Sample safe transportation of children policy and procedures (PDF 3.7 MB)
- Sample safe transport checklist (PDF 332 KB)
- Transport safety risk assessment and management guide, including sample risk assessments (PDF 1.3 MB)
- Safe travel and transport (PDF 1.7 MB)
- Transportation authorisation template and sample (PDF 1.3 MB)