For professionals in early childhood education and care, understanding and fulfilling child protection responsibilities is not only best practice—it’s a legal and ethical imperative. It's about embedding a culture of child protection into everyday practice, ensuring it features on every meeting agenda, every induction, and in every job interview. It's also about creating an environment where all team members feel supported to identify and report concerns about children and young people at risk, as well as addressing any child protection issues within the service.
A service that focusses on this area is CELA member, St Luke’s Dapto. They have fostered a highly proactive approach to child safety by consistently embedding the NSW Child Safe Standards into their practices, maintaining rigorous staff training routines, and involving the entire community in child protection initiatives.
Director Vikki Shaw, Deputy Director Jenna Rugg, and Educational Leader Mel Fourtounas shared with CELA how their service consistently integrates the NSW Child Safe Standards into everyday practice.
"At our service, a culture of child protection means advocating for the physical, digital, emotional, cultural and spiritual safety and wellbeing of all children," says Vikki. "This has been developed using a multidimensional approach, ensuring that management, educators, families, the broader community, and the children themselves all actively support and advocate for children's safety and wellbeing."
Practical examples of how this is implemented include:
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At every staff meeting over recent years, the team has explored a child protection scenario, covering diverse issues and key points of focus. Staff members break into small groups to discuss concerns raised and outline the steps they would take to protect and support the child in each scenario.
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Integrating the Child Safe Standards into programming has become a fundamental routine. Programming floor books feature a dedicated section linking directly to these standards, ensuring their consistent inclusion in daily programs, evaluations, and future planning. Continuous reflection on the standards through policies, child safe codes of conduct, risk assessments, and risk minimisation plans has significantly strengthened the preschool’s overall culture of child safety.
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Strong recruitment practices remain a priority to uphold their commitment to child safety. This process includes obtaining written references, conducting detailed phone interviews, and asking specific child-safe questions of referees.
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During an applicant’s trial day, the entire team provides feedback, ensuring the selected candidate aligns with and enhances the preschool’s child-safe culture. Children's responses to applicants, including their comments and interactions, are closely observed and valued, reinforcing the focus on maintaining a safe environment.
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At the start of each year, the first five weeks are dedicated to child safety, guided by the Safe Series program developed by the Office of the Children’s Guardian (OCG). This initiative embeds child-safe practices from day one, assisting children in identifying their feelings, recognising safe adults, using appropriate language, and identifying safe places to play.
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Throughout the year, the preschool consistently integrates elements of the Child Safe Series into daily routines. Language and concepts from the program are embedded into everyday conversations, with staff members rostered daily to lead small group discussions relevant to children’s lives and the current preschool program. Staff find it especially rewarding to see children confidently expressing who makes them feel safe, identifying safe spaces, and clearly explaining why.
A page from St Luke's Dapto 'Safe use of technology' floorbook
Mitigating vulnerabilities and enhancing safety
It's vital that services proactively identify and address situations where children may be particularly vulnerable. The team at St Luke’s has implemented specific practices to address areas where children might be more vulnerable, effectively reducing risks and ensuring their safety.
"We have a close partnership with Anglicare where we are able to make direct referrals, after gaining consent from the family, to be able to support families and their children," says Vikki. "We believe in the importance of networking with Allied Health Professionals or seeking guidance and assistance from support agencies as required to ensure we are advocating for the rights and needs of each child and their family."
To maintain a high standard of child safety, they complete child protection refresher training annually. Last year, all permanent staff undertook the updated child protection certification CHCPRT025 Identify and Report Children and Young People at Risk. They also prioritise regular in-person training with the OCG and extend this training to other early childhood centres and their church partners.
"When completing OCG training we strive to offer it at a time where other centres can join our team so that we create a local culture of embedding child safe training in all organisations, not just in our centre," says Vikki. "We recognise the importance of ongoing training and staying current with Mandatory Reporter Guidelines (MRG), enabling us to confidently respond to situations as they arise and proactively educate children and families about the Child Safe Series, Child Safe Standards, the Rights of the Child, and effective child protection practices."
St Luke's team members undertake child protection training anually
The importance of high-quality child protection training
Quality child protection training is about putting children first and creating a robust, responsive child-safe culture. It ensures that all staff members are equipped with current knowledge, practical skills, and the confidence to respond swiftly and appropriately to any concerns. Training creates vigilant, proactive environments where children's safety and well-being are consistently prioritised and upheld.
It is essential for individuals working with children as it provides the knowledge and skills necessary to identify, respond to, and prevent child abuse and neglect. High-quality training helps education professionals recognise the signs of abuse, including physical, emotional, psychological, and sexual abuse. Without adequate training, these indicators may go unnoticed, potentially allowing harm to continue.
In Australia, child protection training is mandatory for individuals working in child-related sectors, including early childhood education, schools, healthcare, and community services. Specific requirements vary across states and territories, as detailed below.
The NSW Government recommends that staff working with children undergo refresher training every 12-24 months, and whenever significant changes are made to the child protection law or reporting requirements, to ensure their child protection awareness is current. (Source: education.nsw.gov.au). CELA believes this should be a requirement not a recommendation, and that the training needs to be of high quality with prescribed content, delivered by a reputable provider, at least annually.
Here are 5 key reasons quality child protection training matters:
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Creating safe environments: First and foremost, quality child protection training keeps children safe. It helps educators establish secure and protected environments, fostering vigilance and advocacy for children's safety. Quality training in positive and strengths-based behaviour guidance is also important to creating child-safe environments. When educators understand age-appropriate behaviours, they are better equipped to support children and prevent practices that lead to inappropriate discipline.
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Effective responses to concerns: Quality training supports educators in understanding how to appropriately respond to child protection concerns, equipping them to handle sensitive situations effectively.
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Accurate reporting of suspected abuse: Through quality training, educators are equipped to accurately and promptly report suspected abuse, ensuring timely intervention and support.
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Meeting legal and ethical obligations: Quality training ensures compliance with Australian mandatory reporting laws, fulfilling legal responsibilities, and protecting educators and organisations from legal consequences.
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Enhancing professional confidence: Quality training boosts educators' confidence, enabling clear, assured management of complex and sensitive child protection issues. This creates a culture where children's rights are upheld at all times. when all educators uphold children's rights, there is no room for inappropriate discipline and inappropriate forms of behaviour management.
What should quality child protection training cover?
“Quality child protection training should cover essential aspects such as relevant legislation and mandatory reporting obligations, identifying signs of abuse and neglect, responding appropriately to disclosures, and understanding reporting processes,” says CELA RTO Manager Aline Majado.
“It should also include the development of ethical, rights-based practices, strategies for creating safe environments, recognising the impact of trauma, and practical approaches to prevention and early intervention.”
Comprehensive training ensures staff are thoroughly prepared to safeguard children's well-being effectively. All staff should undertake child protection training on a regular basis, in fact CELA recommends that staff undertake a child protection refresher annually.
How CELA can support your team with child protection training
CELA provides high-quality, nationally recognised child protection training tailored to early childhood educators and organisations.
These courses include:
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CHCPRT025 Identify and report children and young people at risk, a nationally recognised statement of attainment offered via webinar, in-service face-to-face training, and self-paced learning. More details: CELA - Child Protection Training.