National child safety training website now live ahead of 2026 sector rollout

A new national training initiative aimed at strengthening child safety in early childhood education and care (ECEC) is now underway, with the launch of a dedicated website offering updates, resources and guidance for providers, educators, students and volunteers.

On 22 August 2025, Education Ministers from across Australia formally agreed to implement mandatory national child safety training for all ECEC staff. The training will be free, nationally consistent, and evidence-informed, and is set to become a core requirement for the ECEC workforce from early 2026.

The training is designed to support staff to:

• understand their responsibilities in protecting children
• recognise and respond to signs of harm, abuse or neglect
• embed child-safe practices in daily practice and service operations.

To support equitable access, wage subsidy grants will be made available from 1 July 2026 for small to medium providers, helping to cover the cost of backfilling roles while staff complete the training.

Led by the Australian Centre for Child Protection (ACCP) on behalf of the Queensland Department of Education, the initiative is a collaborative project between all state, territory and federal governments. It builds on national momentum to embed a culture of safety, transparency and accountability across the early years sector.

The newly launched National Child Safety Training website. provides the latest updates on the program’s rollout, resources for services, and information for educators, volunteers and students preparing to undertake the training.

Sector stakeholders are encouraged to visit the site regularly and begin preparing for implementation in 2026. Further updates will be provided as the project progresses.

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