Call for Mandatory, Ongoing Safer Sleep Training in Childcare Settings.
More than 1.45 million children under 12 — including nearly 910,000 aged 0–5 — attend centre-based childcare, and 71,960 children attend Family Day Care in Australia each year.
That means thousands of families place their trust in educators to keep their babies and toddlers safe, especially during vulnerable sleep and rest times.
However, while most educators are doing their best, Safe Sleep training is not delivered consistently across the sector.
Red Nose calls on all Australians to support our petition, urging Australian and State/Territory governments to make Safe Sleep training mandatory for all Early Childhood Educators caring for babies and toddlers across Australia, and to refresh this training annually, just like CPR training.
Why This Matters
No parent wants to receive a call that their beloved child is unresponsive to emergency medical care, and no early childhood educator wants to make that call.
Every family placing their baby or toddler in formal care should feel confident that their little one will be slept safely using best practice recommendations. Early Childhood Educators genuinely want to do the right thing. But without mandatory, ongoing training quality practices can drift over time — particularly with staff turnover, time pressure, or poor induction systems.
In short, safe sleep policies and procedures are only effective when Educators are properly trained to understand and monitor risks.
The Current Approach Leaves Too Much to Chance
• No nationally consistent evidence-based safe sleep training.
• Regulators are working on introducing mandatory training for Family Day Care educators, but not centre-based educators.
• The current system places responsibility on individual services to develop and implement safe sleep policies and procedures without a requirement for nationally consistent and evidence-based training.
What Needs to Change
We’re calling on all state and federal governments to:
1. Mandate evidence-based Safe Sleep training for all early childhood education and care (ECEC) settings with infants and toddlers in their service.
2. Make Safe Sleep Training compulsory with annual refresher training for Early Childhood Educators caring for infants and toddlers.
3. Ensure national consistency, so that every family, no matter where they live or what service they use, can expect the same standard of safety.
This is about setting educators up to succeed — and making sure little lives are protected.
Families Trust Educators — Let’s Support Them
Red Nose proudly works alongside ACECQA, regulators, and services to promote safe sleep through:
• Evidence-based professional development
• A national Safe Sleep Advice Line for Parents and Carers - 1300 998 698
But without consistent, enforceable training standards, there are still dangerous gaps — and the consequences can be devastating.
Sign This Petition If You Believe:
• Every Early Childhood Educator and Nominated Supervisor should be trained in Safe Sleep, regardless of where they work
• That training must be evidence-based and regularly refreshed
• Safe Sleep is essential — and must be supported by policy, not just best intentions
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Add your name today to support stronger protections, better training, and a safer future for every baby in care.
Together, we can help protect little lives.
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