A moment of calm in crisis: What Queensland’s childcare staff taught us about trust, safety and professionalism

The early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector has faced intense public scrutiny in recent months. Headlines have too often focused on compliance breaches, investigations, or enforcement actions. For many, these stories risk overshadowing the daily reality of what educators actually do, creating safe, nurturing, and learning-rich environments for children.

That’s why the recent incident in Queensland, where a childcare centre was unexpectedly caught in the middle of a police operation, deserves our attention. While the details of the unfolding situation remain limited, what is clear is this: the children at the service were kept safe, staff responded swiftly, and the professionalism of educators ensured that families’ worst fears were never realised.

This moment matters. Because it reminds us of the profound responsibility carried by those working in early childhood education and how, even under the weight of fear and uncertainty, they place children’s safety and wellbeing above all else.

For too long, the work of early childhood educators has been undervalued. Too often reduced to “babysitting” in public discourse, their role is in fact one of the most demanding and consequential professions in the country. Educators are responsible not only for children’s learning and development but also for their health, safety, and emotional security.

When a crisis occurs whether it’s a natural disaster, a health emergency, or, as in this case, a police incident educators are trained to act with precision, care and calm. This requires a level of composure that goes far beyond what most professions ever demand.

The Queensland centre’s response is evidence of this. Staff acted quickly, appropriately, and always with the children’s best interests at heart. They reassured families during a time of stress and uncertainty, and they upheld the ultimate measure of trust: every child went home safe at the end of the day.

It’s also important to recognise that the educators themselves would not have been immune to fear. In moments like this, uncertainty can be overwhelming. Staff are human too, and the sudden presence of risk would have been frightening. Yet, even while managing their own emotions. The ability to set aside personal fear in order to create a sense of calm and safety for others is what makes their response all the more remarkable.

Much of what makes this possible comes from training. ECEC professionals are prepared for emergencies through regulations, safety drills, and the National Quality Framework (NQF), which places child protection and wellbeing at its core. But training alone doesn’t explain the poise demonstrated under pressure.

There’s something more of a blend of instinct and heart. Educators know the children in their care deeply. They know who needs extra reassurance, who will look to them for calm, and how to transform frightening moments into manageable experiences. This emotional labour is invisible to many outside the sector, yet it is central to what makes early childhood professionals so effective.

This incident is also an opportunity for the sector to reclaim the narrative. The past months have been dominated by negative stories: enforcement registers, compliance actions, and debates over ratings. While regulatory oversight is essential, it does not capture the whole story.

The reality is that 91% of services nationally are rated Meeting NQS or above. Educators across the country are lifting quality standards every day. Families consistently report high levels of trust and satisfaction in their children’s services. And in moments of crisis like this one in Queensland educators demonstrate just how deserving they are of that trust.

Every morning, parents hand their children over to educators with the expectation that they will be safe, cared for, and supported to thrive. That trust is profound. It deserves recognition and it also deserves societal investment.

If this incident teaches us anything, it is that early childhood education is not a “nice-to-have.” It is essential infrastructure, and the people who deliver it are frontline professionals. Just as we honour firefighters for their bravery or nurses for their composure, so too should we acknowledge educators who protect children in times of uncertainty.

This year’s Early Childhood Educators’ Day offers the perfect moment to reflect on this truth. It is a day set aside to recognise the dedication, skill and heart of those who work in early education and care and the Queensland incident has given us a powerful reminder of why such recognition is so deeply deserved.

While educators themselves may downplay their actions, families and communities know just how significant their role is. Early Childhood Educators’ Day should not only be about saying thank you, but also about reframing how we, as a society, see this profession: not as “daycare,” but as essential, frontline work that safeguards children, supports families, and strengthens communities.

The Queensland childcare staff will likely downplay their actions. To them, they were simply “doing their job.” But in reality, their response was extraordinary and emblematic of a sector defined by care, resilience, and professionalism.

In the months ahead, as governments continue to strengthen regulation and oversight, we must also create space to celebrate stories like this. They remind us that behind every rating, every compliance condition, and every headline, there are educators who are deeply committed to children and families.

This year’s Early Childhood Educators’ Day offers the perfect opportunity to do just that to pause and thank educators not only for fostering learning, but for the unseen emotional labour and the extraordinary composure they show in times of crisis. Stories like the one in Queensland should be front and centre in those celebrations, reminding us that educators are more than caregivers: they are protectors, guides, and trusted partners for families.

This is what early childhood education is at its best: a place where children are not only prepared to learn but are protected, nurtured, and kept safe, even in the most unexpected of circumstances.

And that is a story worth telling.