Child safety training deadline: the evidence you must show
Foundation child safety training was due for existing staff by 27 August 2026, and advanced training falls due 31 March 2027. The dates, who is in scope, and the evidence per person.
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The Foundation child safety training deadline for existing staff was 27 August 2026. It has passed. The next one is 31 March 2027, for advanced training, and it reaches most of the people on your floor as well as your supervisors.
This guide is about the evidence rather than the reform. For what the 2026 reform package changed overall, see childcare child safety reforms in 2026.
Four rules decide who needed the training, and when
The transition split the workforce by start date, and the two halves have very different runways.
- Working or volunteering at a service before 14 August 2026: Foundation training was due by 27 August 2026.
- Starting on or after 14 August 2026: Foundation training is due before the person starts working directly with children, or within 14 days of commencing, whichever comes first.
- Holding a relevant role before 30 September 2026: Advanced training is due by 31 March 2027.
- Starting in a relevant role on or after 30 September 2026: Advanced training is due within 3 months of the date the person is employed, engaged or appointed.
- Everyone, ongoing: both Foundation and Advanced training repeat on a 2 year cycle under regulations 128D and 128E.
These rules do not yet apply in Western Australia, where the child safety changes have not commenced. WA services follow the WA regulatory authority's commencement dates.
The 14 day rule is the one that catches services out. During the transition, providers had six months. For a casual who starts next Tuesday, the window is a fortnight, and it closes earlier than that if the person is rostered onto the floor.
Volunteers and staff who never work directly with children are in scope
Regulation 128D reaches nominated supervisors, persons with management or control, persons in day-to-day charge, staff members and volunteers. Foundation training is not scoped to educators.
That means the cook, the administrator, the bus driver, the student on placement and the parent volunteer are all on the list. Advanced training then narrows to nominated supervisors, persons with management or control, persons in day-to-day charge, and staff members who work with children.
If your record only covers educators, it is incomplete, and the gap will be in the group least likely to be captured in a rostering system.
In Victoria, prior PROTECT completions count, so the date is the evidence
In Victoria, a person who completed the PROTECT online module between 1 September 2025 and 27 February 2026 is recognised as having met the state's child protection training requirement by the 27 August 2026 deadline.
This is useful, and it changes what your record has to hold. A tick against a name cannot demonstrate recognition of prior completion. A completion date and a certificate can. It also sets the clock for the two year renewal, which means a service that recorded completions as a yes or no now has no way to work out when each person falls due.
A state course sits on top of the national one
Where a state or territory course applies, a worker needs both the national Foundation training and the state course. Victoria has PROTECT (Early Childhood Sector). The ACT has Keeping Children and Young People Safe. Completing one does not discharge the other.
Track a completion date per person, or you cannot answer the question
The regulator asks whether a named person had completed the required module on a given day, and when their next renewal falls. Whether your service runs training is a separate fact, and it answers neither half. What answers both is a per-person date field with an expiry, held for casuals, volunteers and students as well as permanent educators. A column of ticks will not do it.
Authoritative sources
- Child safety and child protection training (ACECQA)
- Child safety and child protection training requirements (ACECQA)
- National child safety training (Department of Education)
Where a workforce bureau fits
A bureau is one maintained record of a worker's checks that many organisations can rely on, rather than the same educator being checked from scratch by every service they work for. Child safety training is a good example of why that shape helps: an educator picking up shifts across three services currently proves the same completion three times, and each service tracks the same renewal date separately.
On the Career Passport, a child safety training certificate is a document with an issue date, checked by the compliance engine against what the person's role requires and tracked for expiry so the two year renewal surfaces before it lapses. Training certificates are reviewed rather than verified against a register, because there is no authoritative register to query for them, and we keep those two words apart deliberately. That review happens when a worker shares their passport with your service, or across the records your organisation already holds through the Crew add-on.
The provider keeps the obligation to make sure each person has completed the right module, and to sight the evidence. What a bureau removes is the part where the same certificate is collected, filed and re-chased at every service the person works for. For the wider set, see documents every care worker should keep current.
Frequently asked questions
What was the 27 August 2026 deadline?
Anyone working or volunteering at an NQF-regulated early childhood service before 14 August 2026 had to complete Foundation child safety training by 27 August 2026. It covers staff members and volunteers as well as nominated supervisors, persons with management or control and persons in day-to-day charge, and it applies whether or not the person works directly with children.
What happens if someone starts after the deadline?
Anyone who starts working or volunteering at a service on or after 14 August 2026 must complete Foundation training before they start working directly with children, or within 14 days of commencing, whichever comes first. That is a much shorter runway than the transition period allowed, so it needs to sit inside your induction process rather than beside it.
Is the training a one-off?
No. Under regulation 128D, Foundation child safety training must be completed every 2 years, and Advanced child safety training is also on a 2 year cycle. It is an expiring credential with a renewal date, in the same way a first aid certificate is, and it should be tracked the same way.
When is advanced training due?
If a person held a relevant role before 30 September 2026, their Advanced child safety training is due by 31 March 2027. Anyone who starts in a relevant role on or after 30 September 2026 has 3 months from the date they are employed, engaged or appointed. Advanced training applies to nominated supervisors, persons with management or control, persons in day-to-day charge, and staff members who work with children.
Does the training apply in Western Australia?
Not yet. ACECQA says the 2025 to 2026 child safety changes will not apply in Western Australia until a later commencement date set there, so WA services follow the WA regulatory authority's dates.
This is general information, not compliance advice. Always confirm requirements with the relevant regulator, and remember that providers keep the legal responsibility to sight credentials and decide who can work.
We work hard to keep everything accurate, and our compliance engine keeps up with the rules as they change. Even so, we might get a detail slightly wrong or miss something. No one's perfect. If you think something here needs updating, email us at resources@koora.care. We would genuinely rather know, because we all do better when we help each other get it right.
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