National Rollout of Mandatory Child Safety Training for Early Childhood Workers
A new mandatory child safety training plan for early childhood education and care workers is set to come into effect across Australia tomorrow (27).
The nationally consistent child safety training will be mandatory under National Law for anyone working or volunteering in early childhood education and care, regardless of whether they work directly with children.
The training has been developed using input from individuals with lived experience of child abuse and neglect, as well as early childhood experts.
Everyone working in early childhood settings will be required to complete the training, which is being rolled out on the Australian Government’s Geccko learning platform.
Staff will have six months to complete the training, with advanced courses becoming available this July.
Minister for Education John-Paul Langbroek said the Queensland Government had played a leading role in developing the training program. “The Queensland Government has invested $1.85 million to develop the training with leading experts from the Australian Centre for Child Protection,” Minister Langbroek said.
C&K Chief Executive Officer Dr Sandra Cheeseman said the new mandatory training would strengthen capability in safeguarding practices across the early childhood education and care sector.
“Children’s safety is our highest priority at C&K, and we strongly support a consistent, high-quality approach to safeguarding training for all educators,” Dr Cheeseman said.
“This is about giving educators the tools to protect children and create environments where they can learn, grow and thrive.”
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