The recent announcement by Minister for Education Jason Clare that childcare centres will receive funding to close early for mandatory child safety training. But let’s be clear—child protection training is not new. Educators already undertake annual courses and ongoing professional development throughout the year. You cannot work in this industry without it. Training is essential, but it is not where the real problems begin.
Child protection courses are already mandatory. The real crisis?
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Too many children per educator
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Understaffed centres
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Lack of inclusion support for children with disabilities
Until ratios drop and staffing rises, training alone won’t fix child safety.
The real issues are systemic, and they are being overlooked:
- Understaffing and high ratios that leave educators stretched too thin to provide safe, quality care.
- Centres exploiting under-roof ratios, compromising both compliance and children’s well-being.
- Management practices that fail to support staff, dismiss incidents, and erode trust.
- Behavioural challenges and disability inclusion, where children needing extra support are left behind because services simply don’t have the staff or resources to meet their needs.
If we are serious about child safety, we must go beyond symbolic announcements. We need lower ratios, more educators in services, and stronger inclusion support. Only then will training translate into meaningful protection for children.
Mandatory training without systemic reform risks becoming a tick-box exercise. Real safety comes from giving educators the time, staffing, and support to act on what they learn—not just the knowledge itself.
This announcement is a step, but it is not the solution. Until the government tackles ratios, staffing, and inclusion head-on, children and educators will continue to be left behind.
Further Reading
Under the Roof Ratios
Educator-to-Child Ratios: A System Built for Profit, Not Quality Care
Educator To Child Ratio Calculator To Calculate Minimum Number
Educator to Child Ratios In Early Childhood Services
Beyond Ratios: Why Room Size Per Child Deserves Urgent Reform
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