The ECA Rapid Response Taskforce was formed following the reporting of alleged child sexual abuse in some early childhood education and care services in Australia.

While Early Childhood Australia (ECA), as a peak body for early childhood, continues in its advocacy to Australian governments, we also seek to affirm principled, ethical practice foregrounding children’s rights. ECA’s advocacy continues to champion our vision that every young child is thriving and learning and has access to high quality early childhood education and care whatever their circumstances and wherever they live. ECA recognises the need to back in supports for the early childhood profession, to acknowledge principled, ethical, quality professional practice, and to provide research-informed practical support towards capability uplift where it is needed. 

ECA is grateful for the generous support of our partner organisations and colleagues with their breadth and depth of research-informed knowledge and expertise in children’s safety and safeguarding. You can find more information on the partner organisations and members of the Taskforce by clicking the link below.  

The ECA Rapid Response Taskforce has crafted advice specifically applicable to early childhood education and care settings, carefully curating research-informed resources for early childhood professionals. The ECA Rapid Response Taskforce presents materials that seek to: 

• Affirm and uphold principled, ethical practice across the sector. 

• Clearly define what effective child safety and safeguarding looks like, with practical strategies for embedding and sustaining these practices across whole teams and services.  

• Provide guidance to early childhood professionals in identifying risks to children’s safety and ways to mitigate these risks. 

• Advocate for the consistent application of the Child Safe Principles and Practices at both service and organisational levels. 

• Promote critical reflection through thoughtful engagement with materials that also provide implementation guidance. 

• Champion practice that promotes the voice and rights of children.  

• Articulate the characteristics of high-quality practice that foster a strong culture of safety in early childhood settings. 

• Acknowledge the importance of high-quality early childhood education and care in the lives of young children and promote the professionalism and integrity of the sector. 

To access these resources or find out more information visit our new ECA Rapid Response Taskforce page.

Recording: Children’s safety and safeguarding in early childhood settings 

ECA is dedicated to supporting early childhood professionals who work with children and their families. This work includes our recent webinar, Children’s Safety and Safeguarding in Early Childhood Settings. The recording is freely available.

This live webinar is presented by ECA in partnership with Bravehearts. Recognising the signs of grooming can be challenging, but it is essential for protecting children. Join us to hear from Kate McGill from Bravehearts as she explains what grooming is and how to identify its signs. The webinar will provide practical strategies for creating a child safe culture within your service. Protect children by understanding what grooming looks like and learning how to respond effectively. 

New free course

This course introduces early childhood professionals to the concept of child safe organisations and the 10 National Principles for Child Safe Organisations. It highlights everyone's role in creating safe environments where children’s rights are respected, risks are reduced, and harm is identified and responded to appropriately. Suitable for all staff in education and care settings. 

In this course you will learn:  

• What a child safe organisation is and why it matters in early childhood education and care. 

• How the 10 National Principles for Child Safe Organisations support children’s rights and safety. 

• Practical ways to embed child safe practices in your daily work, policies, and team culture. 

This course is free and available on the ECA Learning Hub.

New pre-conference workshop

For those of you attending the 2025 ECA National Conference in Perth from 1 – 4 October, we invite you to join the recently launched pre-conference workshop on Wednesday 1 October: Creating Safer Services: Leadership strategies to prevent child sexual abuse, presented by Kate McGill, Bravehearts and Catharine Hydon, Hydon Consulting. 

This practical workshop is designed for early childhood service leaders and managers, focusing on the vital role of leadership in preventing child sexual abuse. Participants will deepen their understanding of grooming—how it can target not only children, but also teams and trusted adults—and learn to recognise red flags in staff behaviour and recruitment processes. Through practice-based examples and research-informed strategies, leaders will explore how to build robust safeguarding practices that deter potential perpetrators and protect children from harm. 

The main conference program also includes a selection of sessions focused on child safety.