Early Learning Association Australia’s Starting Out Safely Premier Road: Safety guidance for ECEC settings

For early childhood education and care (ECEC) services, ensuring children’s safety when travelling to, from and within the local environment is both a fundamental duty and an opportunity for meaningful learning. The Starting Out Safety program, provided via the website ChildRoadSafety (managed by ELAA), offers a comprehensive package of resources, professional development, policy templates and educator‑led activities built specifically for the early years. 

A wide range of downloadable resources, including storybooks, policy templates (for long day care, family day care), activity kits, multilingual materials and professional development modules. 

Educator‑facing guidance on embedding road safety into everyday curriculum, aligned with the Early Years Learning Framework V2.0 (EYLF) and the National Quality Standard (NQS). 

Policy documents and safe‑transport guides that cover critical areas such as car‑park safety, pram safety, correct use of child restraints, multimodal transport, pedestrian safety, and inclusion of children with additional needs. 

Professional development pathways to support services in building capacity for road‑safety education, from orientation of new staff to reflective practice and continuous improvement. Starting Out Safely

ECEC services can make best use of it by:

• Embed in induction and policy review – Use the policy templates and orientation material to ensure that all staff and volunteers are familiar with safe arrival/ departure practices, transport supervision and pedestrian/car‑park hazards.
• Embedded in curriculum – Selecting resources like storybooks, play mats and local‑walk excursions helps children learn through real‑life, meaningful experiences. Use the module Embedding Road Safety into Curriculum as a guide.
• Family and community partnership – Given that road safety involves children’s homes, travel to services, and neighbourhoods, engage families via newsletters, multilingual fact sheets and joint walk‑and‑talk events.
• Reflect and improve – The educator resource emphasises intentional teaching, responsive practice and reflective planning. Use the questions included in the resource to audit your service’s road‑safety routines and learning experiences.
• Support children with additional needs  – Modify routes, ensure accessibility and work with families to tailor road‑safety education so that every child can meaningfully participate. The resource explicitly addresses this.

Benefits for services and the children

Stronger risk‑management: Clear policies and resources may help mitigate arrival/departure risks, car‑park hazards, mobility issues and community‑transport challenges.

Curriculum alignment & quality: Integrating road‑safety education can support outcomes under the EYLF (children become effective communicators, connected with community) and NQS (Quality Area 3: Physical Environment; Quality Area 6: Collaborative Partnerships).

Engaged learners: Through well‑designed, contextually relevant road‑safety activities, children develop knowledge, behaviours and attitudes that support lifelong participation and independence.

Family engagement: Shared information and home‑link resources build consistency between the service and home environment, essential when children travel to/from the service or explore local neighbourhoods.

Road safety is an everyday concern that touches children, educators and families across all ECEC settings. By engaging purposefully with the Starting Out Safely suite of resources, your service can move beyond basic compliance to embedding meaningful, contextually relevant learning and safe‑practice routines. In doing so, you not only reinforce children’s capacities as emerging road users but also enhance the overall safety, quality and community‑connectedness of your service.