The NSW Government has launched a new safety awareness program to highlight the risks of leaving children alone in vehicles.

More than 500 early childhood education and care services and family day care providers that transport children in cars and buses have just received the branded Look Before You Lock resources, which include a clicker counter, clipboard folder, stickers and lanyards.

Look Before You Lock aims to raise awareness in the early childhood education and care sector of the risks of harm to children during transportation and reinforce the practices required to ensure children’s safety.

This includes checking vehicles before locking them every single time to ensure no child is left unattended.

NSW Early Childhood Education and Care Regulatory Authority Relieving Executive Director Nicholas Backo said children left alone in vehicles was one of the highest risk areas in early childhood education and care service settings and could put them in grave danger.

“The safety of all children attending early childhood education and care services is our priority, but we unfortunately continue to see children being left unattended in vehicles,” Mr Backo said.

“No child should be left alone in a vehicle – anywhere, or any time. This can lead to critical harm and even death.”

NRMA data for the 2023-2024 financial year shows the organisation responded to 677 callouts involving a child locked in a car in NSW.

NSW Ombudsman Child Death Review Team data shows six children died in NSW between 1 January 2018 and 30 December 2023 as a result of being left unintentionally in a vehicle.

Early childhood services have been encouraged to share the Look Before You Lock resources with staff, embed them in their practices and share the message about safe transportation practices with staff, families and local communities.

Services and providers can access an online digital toolkit which contains resources for them to download and share on their own platforms. This includes social media tiles, posters and postcards, as well as activities for children.

Families have also been encouraged to ask their service about what transportation procedures they have in place to ensure children’s safety.

The focus on safe transportation follows National Quality Framework changes requiring services to strengthen policies, procedures and risk assessments for children travelling between services or between schools and services.