Early Learning Matters Week & Child Safety Reforms – SNAICC in the News

This week, from 18 to 24 August, communities across the country have celebrated Early Learning Matters Week, a nationwide recognition of the power of early learning and its enduring impact on children, families and communities.

Led by Early Childhood Australia, Early Learning Matters Week celebrates how quality early education and care lay the foundation for wellbeing, resilience and lifelong success. It is a moment to acknowledge the educators, families and communities who nurture children’s curiosity and growth, supporting their connections to culture, community and identity, and giving them the confidence to explore the world with optimism.

This week, SNAICC extends its congratulations to community on Miriwoong Country, the Wunan Foundation and One Tree Community Services for the opening of the One Tree Wunan Garndim-banjelng Badang Yarrawoo Menewoolbtha early childhood education and care service in Kununurra. The service—meaning Growing Strong Roots for Strong Futures—will provide culturally safe, high-quality early learning for up to 38 children. Its establishment follows more than two years of dedicated community effort, supported by the Department of Education and SNAICC, and funded through the Australian Government’s Community Child Care Fund Restricted Program. This milestone marks an important step toward Closing the Gap, increasing opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled organisations, and ensuring more children in remote communities can access early learning grounded in culture.

SNAICC is proud to support Garndim-banjelng and all community-led services that place children, families and culture at the centre of early childhood education and care.

Victorian Government commits to 22 child safety reforms following childcare review

The Victorian Government has this week committed to immediately implementing all 22 recommendations from the state’s Rapid Child Safety Review, supported by a $42 million investment over the next 12 months.

The six-week review, led by Jay Weatherill AO and Pam White PSM, concluded that Victoria’s childcare system was failing to prioritise children’s safety; hampered by poor information sharing, legal constraints on reporting and underfunding. In response, the Victorian Government is undertaking a sweeping overhaul of the childcare safety system, spanning compliance checks, regulation, training and technology.

Key reforms include:

• New Independent Regulator – to be established by the end of 2025, with powers to more than double compliance checks and oversee an Early Childhood Workforce Register.
• Strengthened Social Services Regulator – consolidating Working With Children Checks, the Reportable Conduct Scheme and Child Safe Standards under one body, with new powers to act on intelligence and unsubstantiated allegations.
• Mandatory training and support – requiring all early childhood workers to complete national child safety training, with resources for parents and carers.
• National advocacy – pushing the Commonwealth to strengthen the National Law, impose higher penalties for breaches and establish a national Early Childhood Worker Register.

Premier Jacinta Allan said child safety in early education is a national responsibility and urged the Federal Government to work with states and territories to deliver a consistent 10-year reform strategy. Attorney-General Sonya Kilkenny added that the strengthened scheme ‘sends a clear message that any risk to child safety will not be tolerated anywhere’.

South Australia is also stepping up reforms, with a $21.8 million investment over five years into its Education Standards Board to enhance inspections and compliance. The state has also offered to trial CCTV in childcare centres, contingent on federal funding. Meanwhile, federal and state ministers are working toward national alignment on child safety measures, including consistent reporting laws, a national worker database, and potential CCTV policy—though privacy and cost concerns remain, according to The Guardian.

Safety reforms welcomed by SNAICC, but systemic change is urgent

SNAICC – National Voice for our Children has welcomed the new child safety reforms in early education and care this week but warns that much deeper structural change is needed to keep children safe.

Speaking on ABC Breakfast News on Friday, 22 August, SNAICC CEO Arrernte and Luritja woman Catherine Liddle said the announcements highlight an opportunity to address long-standing systemic failures but risk being overshadowed by headline measures such as CCTV cameras. From a parent’s perspective, Catherine said that cameras cannot fix a funding model that has prioritised profits over children. She stressed that families need real assurance their children are safe, and that requires investment in people, not surveillance systems that can be hacked, misused or create a false sense of security.

Catherine identified three pressing priorities for reform:

• Workforce and training – valuing early education workers, improving pay and career pathways, and building a strong pipeline of professionals.
• Funding reform – shifting away from profit-driven models towards investment that places children’s safety and wellbeing first.
• National leadership – establishing an independent Early Childhood Education and Care Commission, as recommended by the Productivity Commission, to act as a steward for long-term systemic reform.

On the need for an independent commission, Catherine said these bodies do more than hand down recommendations; rather, they stay the course with the sector, communities, and families to ensure reforms are implemented properly.

SNAICC has also said that reforms must reflect the realities of remote and regional communities, where services are limited and community-controlled models are already demonstrating best practice. Catherine highlighted that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled services know what works to keep children safe, with simple, practical measures such as ensuring two adults are present during nappy changes, or adequate staff are available at mealtimes and play, that are far more effective than cameras. These approaches, she said, are grounded in community knowledge and tailored to local needs.

For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, Catherine said, the stakes are especially high. While safety reforms are welcome, without structural change to the workforce, funding model and regulatory systems, too many children will continue to fall through the cracks. Catherine said that parents don’t just want access to CCTV footage; they want their children to be safe, nurtured and supported to thrive.

SNAICC has reaffirmed its readiness to work with governments to drive reforms that put children’s safety and wellbeing at the centre, while strengthening Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled services as a core part of the solution.

For SNAICC’s full response, find our media release below.