Whenever there are changes to legislation, regulation, or requirements, it can be hard to make sense of what it all means and how it applies to you in your specific job, workplace, or sector as a whole.

It’s true there has been some changes to the requirements for child protection training and these cross most sectors that interact with children and young people.

The information below will outline some specific legislation and some broader regulations as they apply to the various sectors that engage with children and young people.

Let’s start with Early Childhood Education & Care (ECEC).

Under Section 162A of the Education and Care Services National Law – certain people must have completed one of the following by April 1st 2025:

CHCPRT025 – Identify and report children and young people at risk
CHCPRT001 – Identify and respond to children and young people at risk (superseded by CHCPRT025)
CHCPRT026 – Support the rights and safety of children and young people
CHCPRT002 – Support the rights and safety of children and young people (superseded by CHCPRT026)
CHCECE057 – Use collaborative practices to uphold child protection principles

In the ECEC sector, only nominated supervisors, persons in day-to-day charge, and family day care coordinators are required to complete one of the above units by April 1st (if they have not completed one before). Not every educator has to complete the unit.

For the remaining educators, they are required Under Regulation 84 of the Education and Care Service National Regulations to have ‘awareness of child protection obligations’. This awareness is required by the following persons:

1. a nominated supervisor of a service;
2. a staff member of a service;
3. a volunteer at a service;
4. a student who participates in a service.

If you fall into the above category or run an organisation where you have staff or volunteers fall into the above categories, one of the best ways to understand your child protection obligations is to undertake some simple, non-accredited child protection training to develop awareness. Make this a regular, ongoing part of your organisation’s Risk Management Strategy (RMS).

For other sectors outside of ECEC that interact with children and young people (for example, sporting clubs, dance schools, swim schools, scouts, youth group organisations, etc.), keep the following in mind: any organisation that works with children and young people in any capacity are held to the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations and ‘Working with Children Check systems’.

When we talk about ‘Working with Children Check systems’ (also referred to as the Blue Card in QLD and the OCHE Card in NT), organisations and people who run businesses/organisation regulated by Working with Children Checks systems must have a child and youth risk management strategy AND are held to the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations. National Principle #7 is: Staff and volunteers are equipped with the knowledge, skills, and awareness to keep children and young people safe through ongoing education and training. Training on child protection is a huge part of this.

In short – to be compliant to the Standards for Child Safe Organisations and the Working with Children Check systems, organisations must have a RMS that actively includes training for all staff and volunteers on child protection and how to detect child and young people that are experiencing harm or are at risk of experiencing harm.

Good news! Clear to Work offers child protection training that is easily accessible, 100% online, and low cost. Check us out!