Keep Them Safe: Childcare centres to close early for mandatory child safety training

Parents will face major disruptions as childcare centres are forced to close at 5pm five days annually under new safety measures introduced by the government in response to a spike in abuse reports.

Childcare centres across the country will be forced to close early a few days each year to conduct mandatory child safety training, as part of a sweeping government response to multiple alleged incidents of sexual abuse in the sector.

The Sunday Telegraph can reveal the Albanese government will invest as much as $40 million – out of existing childcare subsidy spending – to facilitate the training, which is expected to see most centres close at 5pm, five days a year.

The training – which is being developed by the Australian Centre for Child Protection – will help childcare workers understand how to detect, step in and report instances of child abuse.

Beginning in February next year, centres will be required to give advance notice of when the training will occur and they will not be permitted to close earlier than 5pm.

Acknowledging the early closures would be an inconvenience for parents, Education Minister Jason Clare underscored the importance of upskilling childcare workers to help keep children safe.

Education Minister Jason Clare has acknowledged the move will be inconvenient for parents.

“We are doing this for a ­reason,” Mr Clare said.

“There is nothing more important than our kids and keeping them safe.

“That’s what this mandatory training is all about.”

The mandatory training – announced by state and territory education ministers in August – is part of a suite of reforms to improve safety in early childhood education and care, which includes a National Educator Register, a trial of CCTV in 300 centres, fast-tracking of a ban on workers using personal mobile devices while working with children, and unannounced spot checks by government inspectors.

Senator Jess Walsh says the mandatory training sessions will make children safer.

The reforms followed a spate of high-profile incidents of abuse and alleged abuse in childcare centres.

Last year, former child care worker Ashley Paul Griffith was sentenced to life in prison after confessing to 307 offences of rape and sexual abuse against girls in child care centres over almost two ­decades. In October, The Daily Telegraph revealed almost 3000 incidents of alleged abuse by staff in education, health and ­religious organisations were reported to the NSW Office of the Children’s Guardian in 2024-25, including a 52 per cent increase in reports of ­alleged abuse in early childhood education and care.

Early Childhood Education Minister Jess Walsh said the training will make all children safer.

“This is a sensible way for providers to manage new mandatory safety training,” Dr Walsh said. “This is one of a range of ways to deliver the mandatory safety training, including using employer-paid professional development time or through the $21m the government has provided to help centres conduct training.

“The training will enable educators and staff to identify behaviour that should be reported, and to have the confidence to report that behaviour in a timely manner.”

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Originally published as Keep Them Safe: Childcare centres to close early for mandatory child safety training