Every person working in early childhood education and care (ECEC), including outside school hours care (OOSH), has a legal obligation to act in the best interests of children at all times.

Children’s safety, welfare and wellbeing must be paramount in every action and decision made within an ECEC service. These principles must be embedded and visible in all aspects of a service, from daily operations and management systems to the organisational culture and environment.

New requirements for child safe environment policies and procedures

All children have the fundamental right to feel safe, valued, respected and supported while attending ECEC.

Approved providers and service leaders have legislated responsibilities to ensure their service provides a child safe environment that promotes a culture of child safety and wellbeing.

Amendments to the Children (Education and Care Services) National Law (NSW) recently came into effect, strengthening protections for every child in ECEC services.

Services have always been required to have child safe environment policies and procedures. However, amendments to Regulation 168(2)(h) of the Education and Care Services National Regulations (NSW) strengthen the requirement and make it mandatory for services to specifically address key elements of how they will provide a child safe environment in their documented policies and procedures.

The new requirements commenced 24 April 2026. Approved providers must now implement the new requirements.

Services must update their child safe environment policies and procedures to include:

• a clear commitment that children’s safety, welfare and wellbeing are paramount in all decisions and actions that concern a particular child

• how the service will meet child protection training requirements

• processes for maintaining a register of child protection concerns
  

• clear reporting steps and responsibilities, ensuring staff are familiar with and can easily access the NSW Early Learning Commission’s Reporting Guide

• how the service will conduct regular, service-specific child protection risk assessments

• how attendance records and daily practices will be used to ensure all children are accounted for throughout the day.

For more information on these policy requirements, refer to our compliance article on child safe environments.

Approved providers are also responsible for ensuring that service policies and procedures are kept available and followed (regulations 170–171).

A child’s safety, welfare and wellbeing are paramount

Services must demonstrate a clear commitment that, in any action or decision concerning an individual child, the child’s safety, welfare and wellbeing are the paramount considerations. This principle should be evident in all aspects of service delivery, including enrolment, supervision, risk assessment, and responses to incidents or concerns.

Child protection training requirements

Policies must include procedures to ensure that all required staff meet the child protection training requirements under the Education and Care Services National Law, including those set out in section 162A. This may include maintaining up-to-date records of staff training completion and schedules for ongoing professional learning in child protection and child-safe practices. Further information on Child protection training requirements can be found on the Child Protection Training – Government protocol webpage.

Register for child protection concerns

Each service must establish and maintain a register to record child protection concerns. This register is intended to support consistent documentation, monitoring, and appropriate follow-up of matters relating to the safety and wellbeing of children.

While the specific format of the register may vary between services, it should be designed to ensure clear and secure recordkeeping. The register should include information such as:

• the date a concern was raised or identified
  

• a brief description of the concern

• the persons involved (child, staff, managers, parents/guardians or others, as appropriate)
  

• any actions taken or decisions made, including reporting steps

• any mandatory notification or reporting reference numbers and details of any review or closure of the matter
  

The services’ policies and procedures should clearly outline responsibilities for maintaining, storing and reviewing the register to ensure confidentiality and accountability (and that protected disclosure provisions are considered).

The NSW Early Learning Commission has developed a template register that services may choose to use or adapt.

Reporting decision tree

Services should ensure that staff are familiar with and can easily access the reporting decision tree (currently known as the Reporting Guide). Services should also include in policy and procedures any internal service-specific reporting requirements.

Policies and procedures should outline the steps to be taken when a child safety concern arises, including what to report, when to report, and to whom. They should clearly identify key roles and responsibilities within the service and provide accessible contact details for reporting child safety concerns both internally and to relevant external authorities. All information must accurately reflect the service’s own policies, procedures, and communication pathways to ensure consistency between documentation and practice.

The reporting decision tree and any internal service-specific reporting requirements should be included in induction and ongoing training so staff can respond promptly and appropriately to child safety matters. Services must also review all policies and procedures regularly to ensure the information remains current, accurate, and practical to use.

Further information on reporting requirements can be found on the Reporting incidents and concerns webpage.

Child protection risk assessments

Policies must include procedures for undertaking regular and service specific child protection risk assessments. These assessments should identify potential risks to children’s safety and wellbeing and outline control measures to mitigate those risks across physical environments, routines, excursions, and online or communication practices.

Attendance records and daily accountability

Services must ensure robust daily practices for maintaining accurate attendance records under Regulation 158 and 159. This includes monitoring sign-in and sign-out procedures and implementing systems to confirm that all children are accounted for throughout the day. Policies should describe how staff will verify children’s whereabouts during transitions, routines, and emergency situations.

Other considerations for child safe environment policies and procedures

As Mandatory Reporters, educators are required to report concerns they have about a child’s wellbeing or safety. If you have concerns that a child may be at risk, use the NSW Mandatory Reporter Guide to determine whether a report to the Department of Communities and Justice is needed. You should complete this guide on each occasion that you have concerns as every circumstance is different.

Under regulations 175(2)(d) and (e), any incident or allegation where the approved provider reasonably believes that physical or sexual abuse of a child has occurred or is occurring while the child is being educated and cared for by the service is a serious incident and must be notified to the NSW Early Learning Commission within 24 hours of the incident, or within 24 hours of becoming aware of the incident (as required under section 174(2) of the National Law). The approved provider must also notify the child’s family of the allegation and keep evidence that families have been informed.

Under regulation 175(2)(ea), a sexual offence or sexual misconduct, within the meaning of the Children’s Guardian Act 2019, Part 4, committed by any person who engages in work for the service, including the following— (i) a person employed by the service; or (ii) a person permitted to be a volunteer at the service; or (iii) a student who participates in the service is a serious incident and must be notified to the Regulatory Authority within 24 hours of the incident, or within 24 hours of becoming aware of the incident. The approved provider must also notify the child’s family of the allegation and keep evidence that families have been informed.

Refer to reporting obligations to understand who and when to report to relevant authorities and reach out to counselling and support services when required.

Child safe environment policies in practice

As a leader in a service:

• Ensure the team knows and understands the service’s policies and procedures, their role and responsibilities in providing a child safe environment, and their mandatory reporting obligations.

• Ensure staff are familiar with and can easily access the NSW Early Learning Commission's Reporting Guide.

• Regularly communicate about the service’s commitment to and collective responsibility for child safety.

• Consider how recruitment strategies and induction processes ensure all staff understand what is expected of them in providing a child safe environment.

• Use the Office of the Children’s Guardian’s resources to develop a child safe Code of Conduct.

• Provide regular training on mandatory reporting, child safe practice, child protection, and practical ways to respond to disclosure (using your protected disclosures policy).

• Ensure complaints handling policies and procedures are accessible and available in a variety of formats so that staff, families, community members and children know how to raise concerns. The service’s complaints handling policies must also include information on how complaints alleging a child is exhibiting harmful sexualised behaviours will be managed.

As an educator:

• Stay up-to-date and informed about your role and the mandatory reporting requirements.

• If you have concerns about a child’s safety, talk to your manager or supervisor. If you can’t talk to your manager or supervisor, or you are concerned inadequate action has been taken in response to your concerns, contact a relevant agency for more information.

• Ensure children know who they can go to for help or with a concern when they need to, and that they won’t get in trouble for doing so.

• Actively engage in reviews of your service’s policies and procedures and consider them from a child safe perspective to find ways to improve processes.
  

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