Keeping Every Child Safe - The Sanctuary Approach To Child Protection

When you choose Sanctuary Early Learning Adventure for your child, you are choosing a place where safety is never an afterthought. It is woven into everything we do — our environments, our culture, our people, and our systems. Child safety is not a compliance exercise for us. It is a deeply held value and a lived commitment across all six of our Queensland centres.

In this blog, we want to share something that we are genuinely proud of: the story of how Sanctuary responded to significant changes in child safety legislation in 2025 — not just by updating a policy, but by rethinking, rebuilding, and strengthening our entire approach to child protection. We believe families deserve to know exactly how seriously we take this work.

In July 2025, Queensland's Child Safe Organisations Act 2024 and the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations came into full effect for early childhood education and care services. These changes introduced ten Child Safe Standards — a comprehensive framework requiring organisations working with children to embed safety into every layer of their operations.

For some organisations, legislative change means updating a document and filing it away. At Sanctuary, we saw it as an opportunity. An opportunity to look honestly at every area of our practice, to ask the hard questions, and to emerge stronger, more transparent, and more genuinely child-focused than before.

Rather than rushing to meet deadlines, we developed a structured Safeguarding Children Plan spanning July 2025 through to April 2026. The plan was led by our Operations Manager and implemented across all six centres simultaneously, with clear ownership, timelines, and accountability at every step.

The work unfolded in three deliberate phases:

Phase 1 — Immediate Action (by September 2025)

Updated our Information Technology Policy to reflect new digital safety requirements
Created an Electronic Device Register and a new Mobile Phone and Personal Device Policy
Updated our Smoke-Free Environments Policy to incorporate vaping legislation
Reviewed and strengthened our Governance and Service Management Policy, including changes to notification timeframes for incidents involving sexual or physical abuse (reduced from 7 days to 24 hours)
Ensured all team members attended mandatory briefings and completed policy comprehension quizzes
Displayed child protection reporting responsibilities visibly at every centre

Phase 2 — Embedding the Standards (by October 2025)

Fully implemented the ten Child Safe Standards across all centres
Reviewed and updated our Child Protection Policy with a proactive, not just reactive, approach
Refreshed our Child and Youth Risk Management Strategy, transitioning oversight to the new Family and Child Commission framework
Updated our Code of Conduct documents — separate versions for families, team members, students and volunteers, and Allied Health Professionals
Reviewed our Student and Volunteer Policy, strengthening supervision requirements to ensure no child is ever alone with an unsupervised adult
Added child safety to quarterly risk mitigation meetings
Updated our SEEK job advertisements to reflect our child safe culture, CCTV usage, and pre-interview prohibited person checks

Phase 3 — Quality Enhancement (ongoing through 2026)

Implementing mandatory child protection training — five times per year, in-house and linked to the Department of Educations training.
Reviewing and updating our recruitment policy through a child-focused lens
Embedding anti-bias and trauma-informed practice training across all teams
Reviewing our philosophy statement to explicitly name our commitment to child safe culture

Policy work matters — but what families really want to know is: what does this mean when my child walks through the door each morning?

It means that every educator working with your child holds a current Blue Card, which is linked and monitored through our systems. It means every employee, student and volunteer is linked to the National Workforce Register database.

It means that mobile phones and personal devices are not permitted in children's spaces — we have signage at every entrance to staff areas reinforcing this expectation, and it applies to families during visits as well. It means our CCTV systems operate across our centres, with clear processes for footage storage, access, and deletion.

It means that if something ever happens that concerns the safety of a child, our teams know exactly what to do, how quickly to act, and who to contact. Reporting responsibilities are displayed visibly at each centre. Our team members are trained not just in what to report, but in how to recognise indicators of harm — including grooming, sexualised behaviours, and the more subtle signs that a child may need support.

It means that when a student teacher, volunteer, contractor, or Allied Health Professional visits one of our centres, they are never alone with children. They are accompanied by a qualified team member at all times, and risk assessments are completed before any access is granted.

One of the things that sets Sanctuary apart is that child safety is not something we delegate to a policy document. It is something our owners Damian and Lauren lead personally. It is something our leadership teams champion in their centres each day. And it is something every educator, administrator, and support team member takes responsibility for.

Our owners have invested in upskilling everyone when it comes to child safety with separate messages crafted for families, for our team, and for our broader community. Because we believe that when everyone understands their role in keeping children safe, the whole community becomes stronger.

We have also invested in the wellbeing of our team members through this process — recognising that child protection work can be emotionally demanding. We are building trauma-informed approaches to support educators who may be affected by disclosures or difficult situations, because we know that a supported team is a better team for children.

From July 2026, Queensland's Reportable Conduct Scheme will come into full effect for early childhood education services. This scheme requires organisations to report and investigate certain conduct by employees that may harm or pose a risk to children, including inappropriate discipline, sexual misconduct, or emotional abuse.

Sanctuary is already preparing. Our policies, systems, and culture are being built to meet these requirements — not at the last minute, but thoughtfully and ahead of time. Because that is how we do things.

We know that choosing early childhood education is one of the most significant decisions a family makes. We believe you deserve full transparency about how we protect children, and we welcome your questions.

If you would like to tour one of our six Queensland centres — at Ashmore, Buderim, Highfields, Maudsland, Redlynch, or Southport — we would love to show you around, introduce you to our team, and share more about the Sanctuary way.

Because your child's safety is not just our legal obligation. It is our deepest purpose.

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Recent Articles From Sanctuary

Bottling the Moments at Sanctuary Buderim

By Lauren Hall • August 20, 2026

Welcome back to Bottling the Moments, where I take you behind the scenes of my centre visits and share some of the moments that make me smile, make me laugh and remind me why early childhood education is such a special place to be. My recent visit to our beautiful Buderim centre was all about connection. Connection with our children, our team and many of our families during pick up. Families who trust us with their children every single day. When I arrived, Cody was waiting to take me on a tour of the centre, popping into every room to say good morning to the team, and to the children. I love starting a visit this way. It gives me the chance to say hello to everyone and get a feel for what is happening across the centre before I settle in and spend time with the children. Most of my morning was spent with our littlies in Starfish and Jellyfish. I was greeted by our Jellyfish toddlers with the most beautiful smiles. Mateo and Lenny could not have been more excited to see me, and honestly, it filled my heart with joy. Being welcomed like that by our little ones is pretty special, and it was the perfect way to start my morning with them. Lunch in Jellyfish was chicken curry, and I will admit, I did not expect to be quite so impressed watching a room full of toddlers tackle it. Spoons loaded, little hands determined, they fed themselves with a level of focus and independence that had me completely captivated. I loved watching how confidently they were feeding themselves. It was another one of those everyday moments that reminds me how much learning happens throughout the entire day. I then spent some time in Starfish with our littlest ones. With only four babies there that day, I was very lucky to get plenty of smiles, cuddles and playtime with Mauve, Lola, Ayla and Oliver. Oliver is still settling into his new environment, so I was more than happy to sneak in a few extra cuddles to help him feel safe and secure. Starting care is such a big transition for our babies, and for their families too. It is such a privileged position we are in. Our families trust us with their most precious little people, and in those early days, our babies are learning to trust us too. To learn that when they need comfort, we will be there. That they are safe. That they are cared for. And eventually, that Sanctuary is a place where they belong. Being part of building that trust is pretty special. After rest time, I found myself with Turtles and Dolphins for a treasure hunt. My group was Remi, Ella, Charlie and a couple of their friends, and off we went in search of treasure. We found an ant. We found a leaf. We found some bark on a tree. And apparently, according to every single member of my group, we also saw a bird. I did not see the bird. But they were absolutely adamant it was there, and despite my best efforts to tell them I couldn't see it, I was very clearly outnumbered! It was so much fun following their excitement as they discovered each new piece of "treasure" along the way. Over in Coral, it was story time, and this one was a little bit special for me. I had brought along a couple of books from my own son Austin's collection, and the group chose A Hero Like You and Boogie Bear. They loved them. Genuinely, properly loved them, calling out, pointing, joining in with the parts they already knew by heart. I absolutely loved being able to share a couple of Austin's favourite books with the children, and seeing how much they enjoyed them made this moment extra special for me. Over in Seagulls with our kindy children, everyone was outside enjoying the beautiful sunshine and there was plenty of energy to burn, so naturally, a game of tag was the perfect choice! Before long we were running around the playground, with everyone very determined not to be caught (and equally determined to make sure Miss Lauren was!). Very quickly I had about ten children chasing me, and at one point I somehow ended up on the ground being tickled, with a few of our team looking over to make sure I was okay! There was lots of laughter, lots of running and I think it's fair to say the children had a little more energy left in the tank than I did. After all that excitement, I found a quieter spot with Austin and a few of the children who were drawing. Austin and I have shared lots of special little moments since he first started with us as a baby in Starfish, so it was lovely to sit together drawing pictures and having a chat. It was one of those beautiful little moments that reminded me just how special it is to watch our children grow. From those early nursery days to now sitting beside me in Seagulls, these are the connections I feel incredibly lucky to have. Some of my favourite moments from a visit are also connecting 1:1 with our team members, either while they are in their element in their environment with the children, where they share the exciting activities from the week, or over a cuppa or lunch in the staff retreat. I had a beautiful conversation with Josie, one of our educators, who was so curious about our other Sanctuary centres. We chatted about what makes each of them different, what they are like and some of the wonderful things happening across our wider Sanctuary community. I loved her genuine interest and curiosity. I also spent some time with Chloe for one of our Future Leaders mentoring sessions. These are conversations I absolutely love. Creating opportunities for our future leaders to reflect, grow in confidence and discover what they are capable of is one of the most rewarding parts of my role. Cody, Laura and Annie had organised a special lunch in the lunchroom so I could sit with the team on their break, away from the busyness of the rooms. We talked about everything and nothing. Everyone was buzzing about the upcoming Long Lunch, and somewhere along the way the conversation turned to what everyone was currently watching, which, if you have ever sat in a staff room, you will know is a very serious topic of debate. Moments like these matter just as much as anything that happens in the rooms. Our educators give so much of themselves every day, and getting the opportunity to sit, laugh, chat and simply connect with them is something I really treasure. As I drove home that afternoon, I found myself smiling again, not because of one big moment, but because of dozens of little ones. The excitement on Mateo and Lenny's faces. A room full of toddlers proudly feeding themselves. A bird I apparently missed. Sharing two of Austin's books with a new little audience. A beautiful conversation with Josie. Time spent with Chloe talking about her leadership journey. And a lunchroom full of laughter and excitement about our upcoming Long Lunch. These are the moments that remind me why creating the right environment matters so much. They are the moments that make Sanctuary what it is. Until next time… Lauren x