From 27 February 2026, services can close for a limited period of time while still claiming the Child Care Subsidy (CCS), to allow staff to complete national child safety training. The measure is designed to support services to meet new national safety requirements while minimising disruption for families.
On this page:
What are service closures for national child safety training?
Service closures for national child safety training allow CCS-approved early childhood education and care (ECEC) services to:
- close for up to 5 hours annually so staff can complete national child safety training
- continue to claim CCS during these closure periods.
Service closures are voluntary.
Services have flexibility in how they schedule closures. To minimise disruption to families, services must not close earlier than 5 pm. They may remain closed until their usual closing time.
This:
- supports services to help staff complete national child safety training
- minimises inconvenience for families
- responds to concerns about the time and cost of supporting staff to undertake the training.
Mandatory national child safety training was announced in August 2025 as part of national reforms to improve safety and quality in ECEC.
Who can use service closures?
Service closures apply to:
- Centre Based Day Care (CBDC)
- Outside School Hours Care (OSHC)
- Family Day Care (FDC) educators
- In Home Care (IHC) educators
Closures operate differently for centre‑based services and for Family Day Care and In Home Care. Details are below.
What do providers have to do?
Providers who choose to use closures must:
- plan and schedule closures
- ensure staff are prepared to complete training
- notify families early so they can plan alternative care if needed
- keep required records (see below).
Service closures must only be used to complete the national child safety training.
Fees and CCS during closures
Families receiving CCS during closure periods must continue to pay the gap fee, in line with Family Assistance Law. Co-contributions ensure families contribute to the cost of care and prevents overcharging or misuse of the CCS.
Centre Based Day Care and Outside School Hours Care
Services can close for part of the day from 5 pm onwards, for up to 5 hours per calendar year.
The closure must finish by the service’s normal closing time.
Providers must record:
- confirmation that the service closed for national child safety training
- the date of the closure
- start and end times of the closure.
Family Day Care and In Home Care
For FDC and IHC, the 5-hours annual cap applies per individual educator.
Each educator can be unavailable between 5 pm until the session of care would normally end (no later than midnight), for up to 5 hours per calendar year.
Providers must record:
- confirmation that the educator was unavailable because they were completing national child safety training
- the date of the educator’s unavailability
- the start and end times of the unavailability
- the full name of the educator who was unable to provide care.
More information
More detailed guidance for the sector is available. It includes details about reporting and record-keeping, impacts for families, and other supports to complete the training.