Cultural safety for Aboriginal children

Guidance on Child Safe Standard 1: Creating a culturally safe environment for Aboriginal children in early childhood services.

Early childhood

To comply with Child Safe Standard 1, you must:

understand identity
respect Aboriginal culture
create a culturally safe environment for Aboriginal children
develop and embed service governance that meets the needs of Aboriginal children.

You must comply with all elements of Child Safe Standard 1.

Cultural safety

All early childhood services must create a culturally safe environment for Aboriginal children. This applies even if no children that identify as Aboriginal attend the service.

Cultural safety means creating a safe and respectful space for Aboriginal children. This is an environment where they can:

feel comfortable and safe being themselves
feel comfortable and safe expressing their culture, including their spiritual beliefs and knowledge systems
be supported by educators and those in leadership that respect and encourage their sense of self and identify.

Understanding identity and respecting Aboriginal culture

Identifying as Aboriginal is one part of a child’s identity. Like everyone, Aboriginal children have different experiences and traits. Each child is unique with their own strengths and challenges.

The term ‘Aboriginal’ includes Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Services should ask children and families their preference for how they are referred to.

Aboriginal children feel stronger and safer when they can express their culture. If children don’t feel safe, they may be less likely to report abuse.

Australia’s colonial history has caused significant trauma and hurt. This pain is still felt today. Services should show respect for the deep resilience of Victorian Aboriginal communities.

Child Safe Standard 1

Read the full text of the Standard and its elements.

Services establish a culturally safe environment in which the diverse and unique identities and experiences of Aboriginal children are respected and valued

Early childhood services must comply with all the following elements of this Standard:

A child’s ability to express their culture and enjoy their cultural rights is encouraged and actively supported (1.1).
Strategies are embedded within the service which equip all members to acknowledge and appreciate the strengths of Aboriginal culture and understand its importance to the wellbeing and safety of Aboriginal children (1.2).
Measures are adopted by the service to ensure racism within the service is identified, confronted and not tolerated. Any instances of racism are addressed with appropriate consequences (1.3).
The service actively supports and facilitates participation and inclusion within it by Aboriginal children, young people and their families (1.4).
All of the organisation’s policies, procedures, systems and processes together create a culturally safe and inclusive environment and meet the needs of Aboriginal children, young people and their families (1.5).

Implement Standard 1

Creating a culturally safe environment is an ongoing effort. It is not a one-off change. Services leaders play an important role in driving cultural safety.

Consult families and the Aboriginal community when making decisions about policies.

Open all

Update your Code of Conduct

Include a zero-tolerance statement for racism in your service’s Code of Conduct.
Make clear that staff and volunteers will act on incidents of racism.

Guide and train staff and volunteers

Work with your local Aboriginal community to improve cultural knowledge at the service. Refer to: Cultural and language services in Victoria.
Arrange Community Understanding Safety Training (CUST) for staff and volunteers.
Read the resources developed by Aboriginal cultural services such as:

Build a strong service culture that supports cultural inclusion

Build service-wide knowledge of Aboriginal histories, cultures, perspectives, values, skills and attitudes.
Begin events and meetings with a Welcome to Country or an Acknowledgement of Country. Include a standing agenda item on cultural safety. Use this as an opportunity to pause and reflect or open a discussion.
Make Aboriginal voice part of decision making in matters that affect Aboriginal children. Be open to different ways of doing and expressing things.
Make a public commitment to the cultural safety of Aboriginal children.
Fly the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags on service grounds. Display plaques and signs to Acknowledge Country and Traditional Owners.
Celebrate the local Aboriginal community in communications with children, staff, volunteers and families. Share information through service newsletters, service meetings, or parent information nights.
Service leaders should promote the importance of:

cultural safety, and
inclusion of all Aboriginal children and their families.

Learn more about Aboriginal histories and cultures, both locally and across Australia.
Speak with respect and confidence about Aboriginal culture, knowledge systems and people.

Provide a welcoming environment for Aboriginal children

Acknowledge and draw on the existing knowledge of Aboriginal children and their families.
Ask Aboriginal children and their families for feedback about what the service does well, and what could be improved.
Download the Marrung Aboriginal Education Plan 2016–2026 at Marrung.

Actively address and prevent racism at the service

Include a zero-tolerance statement in your Child Safe Environment policy.
Address racism immediately and work to prevent future incidents.
Reflect on your service’s attitudes and practices in relation to cultural safety. Identify if there are any barriers you need to remove.
Put service leaders at the front of anti-racist action.
Discuss racism and address unconscious bias and racism in the service.

Build knowledge of Aboriginal culture at the service

Learn about the Traditional Owners of the land/s where service sits. Use the Map of Indigenous Australia and learn about acknowledging Traditional Owners.
Include Aboriginal history and culture in staff training and educational programs for children.
Develop resources that teach children about Aboriginal culture.

Work with Aboriginal communities

Support local Aboriginal businesses.
Ask your local Aboriginal community to review the cultural safety of your service environment, systems and processes.
Contact:

Visit an Aboriginal cultural learning centre

You can visit Aboriginal cultural learning centres, such as:

Review how your service supports cultural inclusion

Analyse staff understanding of cultural competence.
Use this information to create individualised staff learning and development plans to improve their understanding.
Develop and implement an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Reconciliation Action Plan.

Include information on cultural safety in your Child Safe Environment Policy

Your Child Safe Environment policy should describe how your service will:

show its commitment to respecting and valuing Aboriginal children
ensure that it creates a culturally safe and inclusive environment through its:

policies
procedures
systems
processes.

meet the needs of Aboriginal children and their families
identify, address and prevent racism
how staff and volunteers will:

encourage and support children to express their culture and enjoy their cultural rights
actively support, encourage and include Aboriginal children and their families in your service.

Recognise key Aboriginal events and anniversaries

Deadly Story has a list of the important annual dates.

NQF Child Safety Guides

The guides focus on creating, maintaining and improving a child safe culture in early childhood services. They include:

information on each Child Safe Standard
case studies
questions to guide reflection
additional reading and resources.
Download the guides and extra tools

The two NQF Safety Guides include information and practical guidance:

NQF Child Safe Culture Guide
NQF Online Safety Guide. There are also additional resources, including the:
NQF Child Safe Culture – Self-assessment and risk assessment tool
NQF Online Safe Culture – Self-assessment and risk assessment tool
Child Safety incident response template – Responding to complaints, concerns, allegations and disclosures
Reporting and Responding Schemes tool. Download all these resources at Child Safety, together with links to additional ACECQA resources about child safety.

Additional resources

Understand the Standards

The Commission for Children and Young People (CCYP) have information for all types of organisations that must comply with the Child Safe Standards. This includes:

CCYP | Resources and support for the Child Safe Standards
CCYP | Translated resources about the Child Safe Standards Note: information isn’t tailored for early childhood services.

Possible next steps

Read more about all the Child Safe Standards(opens in a new window) in early childhood services.

Early childhood education and care

Updated 26 March 2026

Victorian Early Childhood Regulatory Authority (VECRA)

Economic Growth Statement

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Cultural safety for Aboriginal children

Early childhood

On this page

Cultural safety

Understanding identity and respecting Aboriginal culture

Child Safe Standard 1

Implement Standard 1

NQF Child Safety Guides

Additional resources

Possible next steps

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Cultural safety for Aboriginal children

Early childhood

On this page

Cultural safety

Understanding identity and respecting Aboriginal culture

Child Safe Standard 1

Implement Standard 1

NQF Child Safety Guides

Additional resources

Possible next steps

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