Mandatory National Child Safety Training - Effective 27 February 2026

From 27 February 2026, all staff, volunteers, and students in early childhood education and care (ECEC) must complete mandatory national child safety training.

The training is being developed by the Queensland Government and the Australian Centre for Child Protection. It will be available on Geccko, the Australian Government Department of Education’s online learning platform for the ECEC sector. Training is free.

There will be Foundation and Advanced training modules. The Foundation training will be available from 27 February 2026. Advanced modules will be available in July 2026.

ECEC providers can access the following to support their staff to complete the training:

• Child Care Subsidy approved providers may close services early to support staff to complete the training.
• Small to medium providers may access wage subsidy grants. More information to come.

This is a National Child Safety Reform initiative. All Education Ministers agreed to new mandatory child safety training at a special purpose meeting in August 2025.

Find out more and register for Geccko, go to the Australian Government’s Department of Education website.

Action required

All ECEC staff, volunteers, and students need a Geccko account to access and complete the training.

To ensure personal training completions can be tracked and reported correctly, all users must have an individual account using a personal email. Generic or shared emails are not permitted.

Providers should encourage staff to register early.

How to register

Registering for Geccko is easy. Visit the Geccko registration page and follow the prompts to create your account.

If you already have your own Geccko account, log in and update your details. If you use a shared Geccko account, you must re-register using a personal email address.

Find out more and get step-by-step support for Geccko, go to the Australian Government’s Department of Education website.

Test new training in Geccko

Geccko are looking for volunteers to help test new training.

They’re looking for people who:

• have experience in early education settings
• are willing to test platform features (no technical expertise required)
• can join short sessions (1-2 hours) in December, January and February.

If you would like to get involved, email geccko@education.gov.au.

Thank you for your commitment to child safety.