NSW family day care staff to complete new safe sleep training by March 2027

Family day care services in New South Wales are preparing for a new safe sleep training requirement, alongside the next stage of mandatory national child safety training.

According to the NSW sector update, a safe sleep practice in family day care microskill developed in partnership with TAFE NSW is now available. All family day care staff will be required to complete it by 30 March 2027. The course is listed on TAFE NSW’s training platform, although further access and implementation details are expected from the NSW Government.

The training places a specific focus on family day care, where sleep and rest arrangements need to account for the layout of each residence, the children present and their individual needs. Existing NSW safe sleep and rest guidance emphasises active supervision and physical checks of sleeping children. ACECQA’s guidance also sets out providers’ responsibilities for sleep and rest risk assessments and policies.

The NSW update also points family day care services to advanced national child safety training for coordinators and other specified leadership or oversight roles. Providers will need to identify the courses required for each person’s role; the national requirements also cover staff who work directly with children.

The Australian Government’s course guide makes an important distinction about availability: advanced courses 3 and 4 are already available, while course 5, Leading and governing child safety, is due to become available on 30 September 2026. The guide sets out which courses apply to people with management or control, nominated supervisors, people in day-to-day charge and staff working directly with children. Training must be completed through the government’s Geccko platform.

People already in a role requiring advanced training have until 31 March 2027 to complete it. Those starting a relevant role on or after that date must complete the advanced training within three months of starting. This is a different deadline from the NSW safe sleep microskill’s 30 March 2027 deadline.

For approved providers, the immediate task is to identify who needs each course, allow time for completion and retain training records. The NSW child protection and child safety training guidance makes clear that national child safety training sits alongside the state’s existing child protection training requirements. Services should watch for the promised NSW guidance on accessing the new safe sleep microskill and applying its requirement across their workforce.