NSW Child Safe Self-Assessment: Practical tool supports services to strengthen child safety planning

Early childhood education and care services in New South Wales are being encouraged to explore the Child Safe Self-Assessment, an online tool designed to support organisations in implementing the NSW Child Safe Standards and strengthening their internal culture of child safety.

Early childhood education and care (ECEC) services in New South Wales are encouraged to explore the Child Safe Self-Assessment, a free, online tool developed by the Office of the Children’s Guardian to support organisations in embedding the NSW Child Safe Standards across their operations.

Designed to be both practical and reflective, the tool helps organisations evaluate how effectively they are meeting each of the 10 standards, which are grounded in evidence and best practice for preventing harm and promoting wellbeing.

Services that complete the self-assessment receive a personalised Assessment and Action Report, which outlines areas of strength, identifies opportunities for improvement, and provides links to useful tools and resources. Many organisations choose to use this report to inform annual child-safe implementation planning, integrate findings into their Quality Improvement Plan (QIP), or shape professional development priorities for the year ahead.

The self-assessment is flexible, allowing services to complete it individually or as a team. It takes around 30–45 minutes and can serve as a valuable professional conversation starter, helping teams reflect on how policies, practices and culture align with the standards. In this way, the tool supports both compliance and continuous improvement, encouraging a proactive and transparent approach to child safety.

The tool is not mandatory, but strongly recommended. It is especially relevant for organisations that provide services to children and young people, including preschools, long day care, outside school hours care, and community-based services.

For ECEC providers, the tool offers a structured and accessible way to examine how leadership, governance, reporting systems, staff conduct, and environmental safety intersect to create a child-safe culture. Its user-friendly format ensures the assessment is meaningful and achievable for services of all sizes.

To support uptake, the Office of the Children’s Guardian has produced a short explainer video outlining how the tool works and what to expect from the process.

Watch the short explainer video and access the tool here.