Childcare safety in 2026 and the questions worth asking on a tour
If you've been following the news about early education, you've probably felt the knot in your stomach that every parent knows. Choosing who cares for your child is a big decision, and safety sits at the top of the list. The reassuring part is that the rules around early learning have become stronger over the past year, and once you know what they require, it's easier to walk into a Centre and ask the right questions.
What the rules now require
Over the past year, governments across Australia have strengthened the National Quality Framework, the national rulebook every approved service works under. The changes came out of a national review of child safety and were introduced in stages, with the most recent taking effect in January 2026.
Under the current rules, a service has to report any allegation or incident of physical or sexual abuse to its regulator within 24 hours, down from the seven days allowed before. Every service also needs clear policies on how photos and videos of children are taken, used, stored and consented to, and on the use of CCTV and other cameras. Those policies cover devices as well, so images are taken on Centre-issued devices rather than personal phones. Service environments have to be free from vaping too, alongside the long-standing rules on tobacco, alcohol and drugs.
The most recent change, from January 2026, updated the wording of the National Quality Standard so that child safety is named directly in the sections covering children's health and safety and covering governance and leadership. For families, it means an assessor now looks specifically at whether a service has a genuine child safe culture and can show it.
How we think about safety at Early Learners Hub
Rules set a floor, and what matters is how a Centre lives them every day. Our full approach is set out on our Child Safety Commitment page. We have a zero-tolerance approach to any form of child abuse, and if a concern about a child's safety is ever raised, we respond immediately, with care and confidentiality. We follow the national Child Safe Standards and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, so a child's rights and best interests stay at the centre of what we do. We also listen to children and act on what they tell us, because feeling safe enough to speak up is part of being safe.
The questions worth asking when you visit
When you tour a Centre, a few simple questions tell you a lot. Ask how they take and store photos of your child, and how they get your consent, since that's now a formal requirement. Ask what their policy is on staff personal phones. Ask how, and how quickly, they would let you know if something happened to your child during the day. It's worth asking how educators are trained to notice and respond to a concern about a child, because that training is at the heart of a child safe culture.
Then there are the everyday things. Ask how children are signed in and out, and who is allowed to collect your child. Ask about the educator-to-child ratio in your child's room, and whether the same educators are there each day, because consistency is part of safety. It's fair to ask whether every educator holds a current Working With Children Check, and what the Centre's current quality rating is under the National Quality Standard. A Centre that welcomes these questions, and answers them plainly, has usually done the work.
Come and see for yourself
The best way to feel confident about a Centre is to stand in it, watch how the educators are with the children, and ask whatever is on your mind. You're welcome to read our Child Safety Commitment before you visit, and to book a tour at our Centres so you can see how we care for children each day.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Under the National Quality Framework, services must report any allegation or incident of physical or sexual abuse within 24 hours, and must have clear policies on photos, videos, CCTV and device use. From January 2026, the National Quality Standard also names child safety directly in its health, safety, governance and leadership sections.
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Ask how the Centre takes and stores photos and gets consent, its policy on staff phones, how quickly it would contact you about an incident, how educators are trained to respond to concerns, the educator-to-child ratio, sign-in and collection procedures, and its current quality rating.
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CCTV isn't required everywhere, but any service that uses cameras or other surveillance devices must have a clear policy on how footage is taken, used and stored, and must handle families' consent properly.
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Every approved service has a rating under the National Quality Standard. You can ask the Centre directly, look it up through the national registers, or ask to see the Centre's child safety policies on a tour.