Diversity and equity

Guidance on Child Safe Standard 5: Respecting diverse needs and being inclusive in early childhood services.

Early childhood

To comply with Child Safe Standard 5, you must:

respect diverse needs and be inclusive
provide support to all children, especially to vulnerable children
embed a culture of child safety in early childhood services
set clear expectations around achieving equity and respect for diversity
ensure children can access information that is culturally safe and accessible.

You must comply with all elements of Child Safe Standard 5.

Diversity and inclusion

Standard 5 focuses on diversity and inclusion, and making sure all children feel welcome.

Services must:

Understand and respect children’s diverse circumstances and needs
Provide support to all children, and especially those who are vulnerable
Make sure all children have access to information that is:

culturally safe
accessible, and
easy to understand.

Each child has the right to fully take part at the service without discrimination. Services should address all barriers by focussing on each child’s strengths, skills and capabilities.

Services must pay particular attention to the needs of:

Aboriginal children
children from diverse culture and language backgrounds
children who are unable to live at home
transgender and intersex children~~.~~

Child Safe Standard 5

Read the full text of the Standard and its elements.

Equity is upheld, and diverse needs are respected in policy and practice

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

The service, including staff and volunteers, understands children’s diverse circumstances, and provides support and responds to those who are vulnerable (5.1).
Children have access to information, support and complaints processes in ways that are culturally safe, accessible and easy to understand (5.2).
The service pays particular attention to the needs of children with disability, children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds, those who are unable to live at home, and transgender and intersex children (5.3).
The service pays particular attention to the needs of Aboriginal children and provides/promotes a culturally safe environment for them (5.4).

Implement Standard 5

Start by reflecting on your service. Do you provide:

fair outcomes to all children mentioned in this standard?
a culturally safe environment?
does the service reflect the diversity of all the children and their families ?
a complaints policy that children can understand, and that is culturally safe?

Open all

Recognise the diverse backgrounds, needs and circumstances of the children at your service

Pay attention to:

cultural safety for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children
the needs of:

children with disability
children from diverse religious and cultural communities
very young children.

the impact of prior trauma
gender differences
the experiences of transgender and intersex children
challenges for children who are in foster care, out of home care, living away from home
socio-economic factors such as:

children whose family is experiencing homelessness
insecure employment or accommodation
individual or family contact with the justice system
poverty
addiction
low educational attainment
remote or regional isolation.

Read the following information on the resources page of Commission for Children and Young People (CCYP):

Safety of children from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds
Cultural safety for Aboriginal children
Safety of children with a disability.

Identify and address challenges that children may experience due to their diverse attributes

Use culturally sensitive and inclusive examples when discussing families, relationships, professions and activities.
Start asking for and using people’s preferred pronouns and names.
Communicate that the service has zero tolerance to discrimination and bullying. Address any incidents.
Respond to family violence in a safe, inclusive, accessible and culturally responsive way. Ensure is it child-centric and non-discriminatory.
Offer to buddy and mentor children at risk of social isolation.
Pay attention to diverse child groups and individuals in your community. They may be at a higher risk of harm than other children.
Listen to and confirm children’ feelings. They may feel ignored or not listened to in the past.
Let children know they can raise concerns or report incidents at the service and outside it.
Confirm that vulnerable children and their families have their needs met. You can do this at pick-up or drop-off, one-on-one meetings, or informal discussions.
Speak to children. Find out what matters to them, what they know and don’t know about safety, and what they need to be safe and feel safe.
Talk to children about discussing their personal circumstances. Respect their wishes, including the desire for confidentiality. Explain that staff may need to share information to prevent a serious threat to the child’s health, safety or welfare.

Create policies and strategies to meet the diverse needs of children

Make service environments welcoming and inclusive. For example:

display flags from different countries
provide books, games and music in different languages
use children’s artwork to decorate the service.

Remind staff and volunteers about diversity and accommodating children’s needs.
Train staff and volunteers to identify and address racism, bullying and discrimination.
Ask children from diverse backgrounds and life circumstances their preferences. Don’t wait for them to ask for what they need.
Get expert advice to support inclusion at your service. This could include an occupational therapist, speech pathologist, or other relevant expert.

Support diversity through service planning and resources

Recognise dates that connect with your children and families, for example:

Cultural Diversity Week (March)
Hearing Awareness Week (1–7 March)
IDAHOBIT (International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersexism and Transphobia, 17 May)
National Reconciliation Week (27 May–3 June)
Crazy Hair Day (Cystic Fibrosis Awareness, 26 July)
World Mental Health Day (10 October)
International Day of Persons with Disability (3 December)

Compile a range of age-appropriate instructional materials for exploring differences and similarities

Think about using:

Books, and resources that reflect diverse views and perspectives.
Dolls and toys of different (or no) genders, cultural backgrounds and physical abilities.
Speech and drama scripts that explore themes around diversity.
Use images of children with diverse characteristics in publications.

NQF Child Safety Guides

The two NQF Safety 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:
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 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 in early childhood services.

Early childhood education and care

Updated 26 March 2026

Victorian Early Childhood Regulatory Authority (VECRA)

Economic Growth Statement

Mini vic.gov.au

Diversity and equity

Early childhood

On this page

Diversity and inclusion

Child Safe Standard 5

Implement Standard 5

NQF Child Safety Guides

Additional resources

Possible next steps

About the VIC Government

Grants and programs

Jobs and careers

Arts, culture and heritage

Business and the workplace

Communities

Education and training

Environment, water and energy

Finance and economy

Housing and property

Law and justice

Safety and emergencies

Science and technology

Sport and recreation

Traffic and transport

Working in the Victorian Government

Diversity and equity

Early childhood

On this page

Diversity and inclusion

Child Safe Standard 5

Implement Standard 5

NQF Child Safety Guides

Additional resources

Possible next steps

Related links