Victoria’s Child Safety Reforms in 2026: What’s Changed and What Does This Means for Your Organisation?

Victoria’s Child Safety Reforms in 2026: What’s Changed and What Does This Means for Your Organisation?

 

A More Streamlined Approach to Safeguarding in Victoria

Victoria’s child safety regulatory system has recently undergone significant change, with the Social Services Regulator (SSR) taking on a broader role across multiple safeguarding schemes.

These reforms are designed to create a more connected and consistent regulatory framework, bringing key responsibilities under one regulator and strengthening oversight of organisations that work with children and vulnerable people.

The Expanded Remit of the SSR

As of early 2026, the SSR now oversees several major screening and safeguarding frameworks that were previously managed across different bodies. This includes:

• Working with Children Checks
• NDIS Worker Screening Checks
• The Reportable Conduct Scheme
• The Child Safe Standards

These additions sit alongside the SSR’s existing regulatory functions within the social services sector.

In practical terms, this means there is now a single regulator with broader visibility across worker screening, organisational conduct, and child safety compliance. The intention is to reduce gaps between systems and better identify and respond to risks.

What Has Moved Away From the Commission for Children and Young People?

A key part of the reform is the transfer of responsibilities from the Commission for Children and Young People (CCYP) to the SSR.

The SSR is now responsible for:

• Regulating compliance with the Child Safe Standards (for relevant sectors)
• Receiving and overseeing notifications under the Reportable Conduct Scheme

If your organisation has previously engaged with the CCYP in relation to these areas, those matters have been transitioned across to the SSR. There is no need to resubmit information or start again.

The CCYP will maintain their critical oversight and monitoring functions, with their focus remaining on promoting and protecting the rights and safety of children and young people in Victoria. They will continue to provide independent scrutiny of service systems, such as child protection and youth justice, and promote improvements in policies and practices that affect children and young people in Victoria.

Transitional Arrangements: Why Some Resources Haven’t Moved (yet)

During the transition period, some guidance materials, particularly those relating to the Child Safe Standards and the Reportable Conduct Scheme, remain available on the CCYP website. This reflects a staged and practical approach to reform, aimed at ensuring continuity and avoiding gaps in guidance for organisations.

These existing resources are still current and can be relied upon, and organisations should continue to follow them while updated materials are progressively migrated to the SSR. Over time, guidance, reporting pathways, and regulatory information will be consolidated under the SSR to create a more streamlined system.

Importantly for organisations, the legal obligations themselves have not changed, only the regular responsible for overseeing them.

Who Regulates the Child Safe Standards?

Regulation of the Child Safe Standards in Victoria continues to operate under a shared, sector-based model, meaning the regulator responsible for oversight will depend on the type of organisation you are.

For example, schools and education providers are regulated by their relevant education authority; early childhood services are overseen by a dedicated early years regulator; and health services sit within the health regulatory system.

The SSR now regulates organisations that do not fall within a specific sector regulator, including many social service providers. Given this structure, it is important for organisations to clearly identify who their regulator is, as this will determine reporting lines, guidance, and how compliance is monitored and enforced.

The SSR’s Approach: Education First, Enforcement Where Needed

The SSR has indicated that it will take a gradual and risk-based approach to regulation. This means:

• Supporting organisations to understand and meet their obligations;
• Using data and evidence to guide regulatory decisions;
• Working within the sector to strengthen confidence in safeguarding systems; and
• Taking enforcement action where there are serious risks to safety.

This approach reflects a broader shift toward proactive regulation, where the focus is not only on responding to incidents, but also on preventing harm before it occurs.

What This Means for Organisations

For organisations working with children and young people, these reforms are more than just a change in regulator – they signal a shift in how compliance is approached. Some key changes include:

• You may now be dealing with the SSR instead of the CCYP for certain obligations;
• Reportable conduct notifications must be made to the SSR;
• There is a stronger emphasis on identifying and managing risk across systems; and
• Regulatory oversight is becoming more coordinated and data-informed

While the structure has changed, the core expectation remains consistent: organisations must actively create and maintain environments that are safe for children and young people.

Moving Forward

These reforms represent an important step toward a more integrated safeguarding system in Victoria. By bringing multiple functions together, the aim is to improve oversight, strengthen accountability, and ultimately better protect children and young people.

For organisations, now is a good time to review internal reporting processes, confirm who your regulator is and ensure policies and procedures align with current requirements.

How Can Safe Space Legal Help?

The team at Safe Space Legal have extensive safeguarding experience. We have worked with many organisations in Victoria, and across Australia, to ensure they are meeting their legal obligations and frequently conduct independent safeguarding investigations.

Safe Space Legal provides the following services to ensure organisations meet their legal obligations:

• Supporting organisations to have robust recruitment strategies to keep children and young people safe;
• Providing organisations with advice on their legal obligations and compliance;
• Drafting best practice child safety policies, procedures and codes of conduct;
• Conducting gap analysis audits of critical incidents;
• Providing training on legal obligations, duty of care and child safety;
• Conducting child safety investigations which are compliant with relevant state and territory schemes; and
• Provide sound legal advice on risk mitigation.

Contact office@safespacelegal.com.au or call (03) 9124 7321 to organise a complementary discussion in relation to your organisation’s child safety and safeguarding needs.