Calls grow for national early childhood safeguarding register to strengthen child protection

Calls are mounting across the early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector for a unified, national safeguarding system that enables approved providers to identify individuals who have been subject to disciplinary action, performance management, or child protection-related investigations even if they hold a valid Working with Children Check (WWCC).

Sector experts are warning that current regulatory systems are not sufficient to prevent unsuitable individuals from re-entering the ECEC workforce.

Sector experts are warning that current regulatory systems are not sufficient to prevent unsuitable individuals from re-entering the ECEC workforce. Under Section 188 of the Education and Care Services National Law, it is an offence to engage a person who is subject to a prohibition notice in any role that involves the education and care of children. However, identifying whether a person is subject to such a notice can be challenging in the absence of a centralised, cross-jurisdictional system.

Approved providers are required to ensure that individuals working with children are not listed on any state or territory prohibition registers. Yet verifying this remains a fragmented process, with no single national mechanism for cross-referencing disciplinary histories or substantiated complaints across jurisdictions.

The only way to confirm this is through the NQA ITS portal and to meet these obligations, providers must:
– Log in
– Use the Register Search
– Search every new staff member by name

Currently, each jurisdiction maintains its own WWCC framework and reportable conduct obligations. While services are required to report concerns to oversight bodies such as the Commission for Children and Young People, there is limited visibility across states, and no publicly accessible database tracking substantiated findings unless formal prohibition action is taken.

Sector stakeholders argue this leaves critical gaps particularly when an individual resigns or leaves a service while an investigation is underway. In these circumstances, no flag or alert system is triggered to warn future employers, unless the matter escalates to formal prohibition.

Child safety advocates and education leaders are now calling for:

• A national safeguarding register accessible to approved providers
• Automatic flags for individuals under investigation or with substantiated complaints
• Stronger data-sharing arrangements between commissions, regulators and providers
• Mandatory cross-jurisdictional checks during recruitment processes

Without these safeguards, children remain vulnerable and services risk unknowingly hiring individuals with a history of inappropriate conduct.

While bodies like the Commission for Children and Young People, Office of the Children’s Guardian, ACT Ombudsman, Ombudsman Western Australia, Child Safety Services Queensland Department for Child Protection South Australia, Department for Education, Young People and Children Tasmania and Department of Children and Families Northern Territory all play a vital role in oversight, many in the sector believe their powers and processes must evolve alongside increasing mobility across the ECEC workforce.

There is broad consensus that children’s safety must not be compromised by administrative or jurisdictional limitations and that regulatory frameworks must better support providers to make fully informed staffing decisions.