By NICHOLAS COMINO, NEWS REPORTER, AUSTRALIA and ALEX MITCHELL FOR AAP
Childcare centres will close early several times a year under revamped industry reforms.
In the latest response to a spike in reports of alleged abuse that have plagued the sector in 2025, centres will close one hour early at 5pm five times a year for staff to undergo mandatory safety training.
The federal government acknowledged the changes will inconvenience many families, but insisted that centres will give plenty of notice and that the training will create a safer environment for kids.
The changes come into effect in February and will cost the federal government $40million of previously budgeted funds to facilitate the closures and training being developed by the Australian Centre for Child Protection.
The training will help childcare workers understand how to detect, step in and report instances of child abuse.
'This is a sensible way for providers to manage new mandatory safety training,' Early Childhood Education Minister Jess Walsh said.
'The training will enable educators and staff to identify behaviour that should be reported, and to have the confidence to report that behaviour in a timely manner ... this is essential training.'
Education Minister Jason Clare stressed that prioritising the upskilling of childcare workers is essential to ensure children's safety.
From February, childcare centres will close early five times a year for staff to undertake mandatory training
Jason Clare (pictured) said mandatory training for childcare workers would protect children
'We are doing this for a reason. There is nothing more important than our kids and keeping them safe,' Clare told the Daily Telegraph.
'That's what this mandatory training is all about.'
Centres must give parents advance notice of when the training will occur and will not be permitted to close earlier than 5pm.
Mandatory child safety training was among the measures Australia's education ministers agreed to in the wake of sickening allegations levelled against Melbourne childcare worker Joshua Dale Brown.
Brown, who worked at 24 facilities between 2017 and 2025, was charged with sexually abusing eight children under the age of two.
Other measures being rolled out include a CCTV trial in up to 300 centres along with testing on a national register of childcare workers.
National monitoring of working with children checks is also on the agenda.
At present, alleged offenders can potentially keep their WWC checks for years until it needs to be renewed.
The mandatory training will help childcare workers understand how to detect, step in and report instances of child abuse (stock image)
All jurisdictions have agreed to sign up to a 'national continuous checking capability', which will allow the use of state and territory police databases to monitor the criminal histories of check-holders in 'near real time'.
The allegations against Brown is just one in a string of alarming incidents that have rocked Australia's childcare sector.
In November 2024, Brisbane childcare worker Ashley Paul Griffith was sentenced to life in prison for sexually abusing children across multiple centres.
Earlier this year, another educator in NSW was charged with nine counts of child sexual abuse, while a Queensland childcare director faced charges for knowingly hiring a convicted child sex offender.
An investigation by the ABC revealed systemic failures, identifying nearly 150 childcare workers convicted, charged, or accused of abuse in recent years, leading to calls for sweeping reforms.