NEW Child Safety Regulations

From 1 September 2025, new regulations will take effect as part of the response to the 16 recommendations of last year’s child safety review.

Changes to the National Regulations include:

• new requirements for the safe use of digital technologies and online environments
• 24-hour notification for abuse incidents and allegations (down from 7 days)
• prohibiting the use of vaping substances and devices in services.

Refinements to the National Quality Standard to strengthen the focus on child safety will start on 1 January 2026.

ACECQA has released two new NQF Child Safety Guides to help services prepare for the changes:

• The NQF Child Safe Culture Guide helps embed child-safe cultures.
• The NQF Online Safety Guide provides support to keep children safe when using online and digital technologies.

A summary of the changes to the regulations and related quality areas are on ACECQA’s information sheet here.

More information, including policy guidelines can be found on ACECQA’s website.