Portfolio — 28 April 2026

Education Minister Jason Clare used media releases on 28 April to mark what the government is framing as a significant early milestone in its early childhood safety reform program, while also addressing the government's position on Australians who joined ISIS abroad. On the safety reform front, Clare announced that more than 180,000 early childhood educators — roughly two-thirds of the sector's entire workforce — have completed new mandatory child-safety training within just two months of its launch [TA-260428-educat-c885f7ee9db2 TA-260428-educat-d5c5b409182c].

The scale of uptake is the headline figure Clare is foregrounding; at that pace, near-total sector coverage within the year appears plausible. The training is backed by a $226 million government package and extends beyond existing child-protection courses to cover safe-policy development, mandatory reporting obligations, and the embedding of a child-safe culture in learning settings [TA-260428-educat-c885f7ee9db2].

Participant satisfaction is high: 97 percent said they would recommend the training.

The broader package Clare outlined involves multiple, layered interventions across the sector. Personal mobile phones have been banned in early learning centres. CCTV monitoring trials are underway.

Legislation is in force that cuts funding to centres failing to meet safety standards — 83 centres have been directed to address deficiencies, and Clare noted many are already doing so [TA-260428-educat-2b23a77abfd7]. This combination of workforce training, surveillance measures, funding penalties, and legislative compliance signals a whole-of-sector approach rather than a targeted response to individual incidents.

Clare also pointed explicitly to cross-portfolio work being led by Attorney-General Michelle Rowland: specifically, the development of a national register of early childhood educators and the harmonisation of Working with Children Checks across state and territory jurisdictions. Both instruments address the portability problem — where an educator with a concerning history in one state can move to another — and their inclusion in Clare's media release positions the Education Minister as a visible co-owner of that reform agenda alongside the Attorney-General.

Separately, Clare addressed the government's position on Australians who travelled abroad to join ISIS, stating they would be met by police at the airport and face the full force of the law upon return [TA-260428-educat-2b23a77abfd7]. This statement sits outside the early childhood portfolio domain; its appearance in an Education Minister's media release is notable and may reflect a broader government communications push on this issue rather than a portfolio-specific development.

No parliamentary debate material is present for this date.