Child safety in early childhood education and care: information for families

Visit Choosing an early childhood service for:

• questions you can consider asking a service
• documentation that should be on display.

Look for and ask your service about the actions they are taking to put children’s safety first.

A child safe service will:

• always put children’s safety, rights and best interests first
• proactively identify, monitor and mitigate child safety risks
• understand and apply child safety laws and requirements
• have policies and procedures to safeguard children in physical and online environments
• encourage families to raise any concerns
• respond appropriately to disclosures and suspicions of harm, and use trauma-informed practices
• talk to children about their rights, and how they can raise concerns with adults
• teach children about body safety in an age-appropriate way
• embed a commitment to child safety throughout the service
• involve families and local communities to create a child safe culture.

Ask your service:

• for a copy of their Child Safety Wellbeing Policy
• to confirm all staff have valid Working with Children Checks
• what their child ratios are
• how to raise concerns and how they respond to complaints
• about their quality rating.

In Victoria, all ECEC services are regulated by the Victorian Early Childhood Regulatory Authority (VECRA). VECRA is an independent regulator.

VECRA regulates Victorian early childhood services under the following regulatory schemes:

• the National Quality Framework
  • the Education and Care Services National Law (National Law)
  • the Education and Care Services National Regulations (National Regulations)
  • the National Quality Standard
• the Victorian Children’s Services regulatory scheme:
  • the Children’s Services Act 1996, and
  • the Children’s Services Regulations 2020.
• regulation of the Child Safe Standards (CSS) for all early childhood services in Victoria under the Child Wellbeing and Safety Act 2005.

Read about the functions and powers of VECRA.

Most ECEC services are regulated under the National Quality Framework (NQF) scheme. This includes:

• Long day care
• Standalone kindergarten services
• Family day care
• Outside School Hours Care
• Vacation Care

The NQF is a national regime that operates in all states and territories across Australia.

The quality of early childhood services is measured against 7 quality areas and rated under this system.

Read more about the National Quality Framework and early childhood services.

A small number of services offer care to children on a non-regular, or ad hoc basis. They are referred to as ‘Children’s services’, and include:

• limited hours services (where children attend for a short period of time)
• occasional care services
• early childhood intervention services
• mobile services
• school holiday care programs that operate for less than 28 days a year
• certain services that formerly received funding under the Commonwealth Government’s Budget Based Funded program or indigenous Advancement Program and were not funded for Child Care Subsidy.

Read more at: Children's services regulated under state law

All early childhood services in Victoria must comply with the Child Safe Standards. QARD is the integrated sector regulator of the Child Safe Standards in the early childhood sector.

Read about how we regulate the Child Safe Standards.

The following authorities work together as co-regulators of child safety:

• Quality Assessment and Regulation Division (QARD)(opens in a new window): regulatory authority for early childhood services
• Commission for Children and Young People (CCYP)(opens in a new window)
• Victorian Institute of Teaching (VIT)(opens in a new window): regulatory authority for the teaching profession
• Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority (VRQA)(opens in a new window): regulatory authority for schools

Staff working in ECEC services have legal obligations under a range of schemes. These schemes work together to protect children.

The different legal obligations to protect children include:

• duty of care obligations
• obligations under early childhood legislation
• the reportable conduct scheme
• criminal offences
• the Child Safe Standards.

All early childhood workers, including approved providers and volunteers, are mandatory reporters.

This means that if a mandatory reporter believes a child needs to be protected from physical injury or sexual abuse, that person must make a report to Victoria Police or Child Protection.

The Reportable Conduct Scheme requires organisations involving children to notify the Commission for Children and Young People (CCYP) of alleged abuse by workers or volunteers.

Approved providers of early childhood services must respond to allegations of child abuse (and other child-related misconduct) made against their workers and volunteers.

The Child Information Sharing Scheme (CISS) makes it easier for professionals who work with children and families to share information.

The scheme shows these professionals the full picture of the children they work with. It helps them to understand what they can share, and how to protect a family's privacy.

Read about the Child Information Sharing Scheme.

The government is implementing all 22 recommendations of a recent review into child safety in Victoria. This includes:

• creating an independent and stronger early childhood services regulator. The regulator will visit services to conduct checks more often
• improving systems and checks so people who do the wrong thing can be quickly detected and prevented from working with children again
• improving child safety training and supports for ECEC professionals
• providing parents and carers with fact-based information about what to be aware of and how to report any concerns.

To learn more about the review and the government’s response, refer to Rapid Child Safety Review. 

The Early Childhood Workforce Register includes information about workers at childcare and kinder services who have direct contact with children as part of their usual duties.

This means all employees at these services will be known and there can be a quick response to any incidents.

To learn more about the register, refer to Early Childhood Workforce Register.

Managing and monitoring how images or videos of children are taken, stored and shared is difficult on personal devices. This is why, in most situations, only service-issued devices will be used by ECEC staff.

Services will also have policies and procedures for taking, storing and sharing photos and videos. They will seek your permission to take images and videos of your child.

Learn more about Child safe practices for digital technologies and personal electronic devices.