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Robust child safe recruitment, screening, induction and employment processes are critical to keeping children safe. They also support attracting and retaining suitable and skilled staff who understand and uphold their important role.

The has legislated more than 30 reforms amending how the National Law and Regulations apply in NSW to strengthen the safety and wellbeing of children in early childhood education and care (ECEC).

Among these are new requirements under Regulation 168 of the ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø and Care Services National Regulations (NSW) that will make it mandatory for services to outline clear child-safe recruitment and employment practices in their staffing policies and procedures.

These requirements will take effect once the commencement date is announced, with further information to be provided by the NSW Early Learning Commission. The guidance below outlines what providers and services must do to prepare for these changes and ensure the recruitment and employment practices are child safe.

New provisions under the National Law (NSW) also require educators and other staff members of an ECEC service to notify their approved provider if they receive a negative notice. Educators and early childhood teachers must notify their approved provider if there is a change to their teacher accreditation or registration. This provision is now law and must be complied with.

Meeting your requirements

Review and update your staffing policies and procedures

Approved providers must review and update their staffing policies and procedures to ensure they are in line with:

• child-safe recruitment and employment requirements under Regulations
• Sections and of the National Law (NSW) relating to negative notices
• other relevant frameworks, including the and the , including the

Staffing policies and procedures must include a clear commitment to child-safe recruitment and ongoing child-safe employment and are required to make explicit reference to the safety and wellbeing of every child in ECEC as the service’s paramount priority. This should be reflected in the service’s code of conduct. Read the NSW Office of the Children's Guardian's guidance on .

Approved providers are required to take every reasonable step to ensure staff follow their service's under . Service leaders and staff must embed these practices across all aspects of service operations.

Implement child safe recruitment practices

Staffing policies and procedures must outline how your service embeds child safe practice into recruitment and onboarding, including how it conducts reasonable enquiries to verify a person’s suitability before employment or engagement.

Child safe recruitment practices must include, but are not limited to:

• including child safe criteria in job advertisements and position descriptions.
• ensuring staff (including volunteers, students and other staff) have a verified WWCC through the . A WWCC assesses a person’s ability to work safely with children based on any known incidents that indicate the person poses a risk of harm.
• using the to support strengthened child safe recruitment practices
• verifying through the National Quality Agenda IT System (NQA ITS) if an individual is a prohibited person (Section 188), or subject to a suspension or supervision notice under Section 178(4)(c)(i).
• verifying qualifications (including early childhood education and first aid), assessing their legitimacy by carefully reviewing certificates and transcripts. Check for spelling errors, consistency, Registered Training Organisation (RTO) validation and ensuring the qualification is .
• validating qualifications through reliable sources and systems. This may involve confirming training details via the applicant’s USI portal or checking the to ensure the RTO was operating at the time of issue and not subject to any actions by the .
• requesting declarations from the individual about their suitability and any current restrictions, including enforceable undertakings. This may include using ACECQA’s Prohibition Notice Declaration form and Compliance history form, which are available on ACECQA's page.
• requesting a National Police Check (i.e. a national criminal history check) as an additional screening measure to complement the legislated WWCC. While the WWCC specifically assesses a person’s suitability to work with children by identifying child-related offences and relevant misconduct, a National Police Check provides a broader overview of an individual’s criminal history, including offences not related to children. This broader visibility can assist employers in identifying convictions, that may be relevant to recruitment decisions and overall workplace safety.
• including scenario-based questions in interviews to assess the individual’s child-safe commitment and knowledge.
• collecting at least 2 verbal reference checks from previous employers, including the most recent, to verify the applicant’s work history and experience, and confirm their conduct, integrity and suitability to work with children. Reference checks should include specific enquiries about:
  • any reportable allegations, prior allegations or concerns related to child safety or misconduct
  • the person’s knowledge of the child safe standards, including their understanding of mandatory reporting obligations.
• keeping a written record of verbal reference checks.
• maintaining transparent, well-documented recruitment and employment processes.
• ongoing monitoring and supervision during but not limited to the induction period.

Implement ongoing child-safe employment practices

Staffing policy and procedures must also outline how you will implement ongoing child-safe employment practices in your service and continually monitor the suitability of staff to work with children.

This includes, but is not limited to:

• conducting regular checks and reasonable enquiries to ensure all staff continue to meet child safety requirements
• maintaining and updating staff records in relation to any notices or changes that affect staff suitability to work with children
• regularly checking staff members’ WWCC status and the prohibited persons register on NQA ITS
• ongoing staff training and professional development in child safe practice and reporting procedures
• establishing secure processes for managing and recording checks, enquiries and notices while maintaining confidentiality.

Maintain accurate records

Services must keep clear and up-to-date records that demonstrate compliance with child-safe recruitment and ongoing child-safe employment obligations. This includes maintaining:

• staff records that document each employee’s WWCC details, verification dates and any updates or changes to their status
• evidence of reasonable enquiries made before and during employment, such as confirmation that staff are not subject to a prohibition notice and a record of referee checks conducted
• documentation of actions taken if any concerns or notifications arise regarding a staff member’s suitability. This should be reflected in your service’s register for child protection concerns, soon to be required under Regulation 168(2)(h)
• regular review and updates of staffing and recruitment policies and procedures to ensure they remain current, reflect the latest legislative requirements, reflect service needs and feedback, and promote best practice in child-safe employment
• documentation of any policy or procedure reviews and changes to maintain accountability and transparency.

Provide written notice of negative notices

Ensure educators and staff at your service are aware of and understand their legislative obligations under Section 174AA of the National Law (NSW) to provide written notice if they receive a negative notice or if there has been a change to their accreditation or registration. This expectation should be communicated to all new staff during the onboarding and induction process and regularly reinforced with existing staff.

Approved providers must notify the NSW Early Learning Commission if they become aware that an educator or staff member at their service has received a negative notice or a change to their accreditation or registration. This notification must be submitted via email to information@earlylearningcommission.nsw.gov.au within 24 hours of becoming aware of the event.

Follow your service’s child safety procedures and keep a record of the actions taken in response to a negative notice or change to a staff member’s accreditation or registration.

More information and resources