evacuation plan for an early childhood education and care centre

Emergency management in early childhood services

An emergency may adversely affect the safety or health of any occupants or visitors at the service or family day care residence. Threats and hazards can come from inside or outside the service.

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Emergency and evacuation requirements - all early childhood services, emergency management planning, risk assessment, emergency procedures, emergency evacuation diagram or floor plan, rehearse your emergency and evacuation procedures every 3 months, resources and guidance, contact details.

An emergency is an incident, situation or event that:

• may adversely affect the safety or health of anyone at the service or family day care residence
• requires an immediate response.

Threats and hazards can come from both inside the service or outside the service:

• building fires
• medical emergency or incidents (for example,child with anaphylactic or asthma attack)
• aggressive person or intruder
• bushfire or grassfire
• flood or extreme weather
• poor air quality (for example, smoke from local fire or bushfire)
• gas leaks and chemical spills
• bomb or substance threats.

This information relates to both centre-based and family day care services, including Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) services, occasional care and limited hours service. For readability, we use the term ‘service’. It includes family day care residences and venues.

Emergencies can be sudden, and expose children, staff and visitors to health and safety risks.

Services need to plan and prepare so they can respond quickly and effectively to ensure the safety and wellbeing of everyone at the service.

Read about Managing bushfire and grassfire risks in early childhood services (opens in a new window) .

All early childhood services must have emergency and evacuation policies and procedures.

The regulations* specify that the approved provider must:

• make sure the service conducts a risk assessment - the assessment should identify all potential emergencies that are relevant to the service
• have emergency and evacuation procedures that give instructions for what must be done in the event of an emergency - the emergency may include a medical or health incident or trauma
• have an emergency and evacuation floor plan (evacuation diagram) - you must display a copy of the emergency and evacuation floor plan and instructions in a prominent position near each exit
• make sure the service rehearses the emergency and evacuation procedures every 3 months - you must record these rehearsals.

Services on the Bushfire At-Risk Register (BARR) (opens in a new window) and on Category 4 (opens in a new window) have extra requirements.

Your service's emergency and evacuation policy and procedures must be available at services on request. In family day care (FDC) services, they must be always available at family day care residences or venues.

*National Regulations: regulations 97, 168 - 172 (NQF services) and to Children’s Services Regulations: 66, 112-115 (Children’s Services Act (CS Act)).

Read the ACECQA Emergency and evacuation policy and procedure guidelines (opens in a new window) .

We've developed a template Emergency Management Plan (EMP) (opens in a new window) to guide and document your emergency management arrangements.

You can use these documents as a framework to help:

• guide your planning and record the service’s emergency arrangements
• conduct the service’s the risk assessment
• set out your emergency and evacuation procedures
• develop your evacuation floor plan.

The EMP template brings all the information together into one document about:

• your emergency procedures
• other emergency arrangements.

For example:

• roles and responsibilities of staff before, during and after an emergency
• emergency contacts
• emergency procedures rehearsal schedule
• emergency evacuation kit contents.

You do not have to use the EMP template. If you do, make sure you adapt it to your service, its operations and practices. This includes the procedures, staff emergency roles and other information.

People with additional needs

If a member of staff or child has additional needs, you may need to create a separate personal emergency evacuation plan (PEEP) for them.

Refer to our Sample Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan (PEEP):

• Personal Emergency Evacuation Plan Template (DOCX, 282KB) (opens in a new window) .

Services co-located on a school site

When developing emergency plans, services that are co-located on a school site:

• may choose to work with the school or facility to develop consistent arrangements
• if they work with the school or facility, they must still conduct a separate risk assessment. If the service provides outside school hours care it will need its own emergency contacts as the standard school contacts will not be available.

Update your contact details

When reviewing your EMP, remember to update key sections, including contact details. You should also update your service contact details with the department.

NQF services can update their details on the NQA ITS portal (opens in a new window) .

Limited hours and occasional care services must:

• complete AS10: Notification of change to information about an approved children’s service (PDF, 868KB) (opens in a new window)
• email the form to [email protected] (opens in a new window) .

A risk assessment is essential. It should be the first step in your emergency management planning process. The risk assessment feeds into all the other elements of your emergency plan because it helps you to:

• identify all the probable threats, hazards and incidents that can result in an emergency at your service
• document the risks and assess the risk level of each
• develop emergency procedures, policies and other arrangements to reduce and manage identified risks
• address unacceptable risks.

Review your risk assessment:

• at least once a year
• after rehearsing your emergency procedures or an actual emergency event.

To help guide your risk assessment, use our sample template (DOCX, 33KB) (opens in a new window) .

For every risk you identified in the risk assessment, you will need to have a corresponding emergency procedure.

Your procedures should provide sufficient detail to make sure all tasks are done. For example:

• contacting emergency services for advice or assistance
• transporting the emergency kit
• contacting parents or carers.

Remember to review your procedures after every emergency incident and rehearsal.

All staff must have a good knowledge of the service’s emergency procedures.

Parents or carers should also be familiar with your arrangements in case of an emergency.

Where possible, involve or consider information made available by your local emergency services and Council or Shire - they may be able to provide expert advice about your procedures.

FDC services

Approved providers must make sure that the service or each FDC educator has access to the following so they can communicate with parents and emergency services:

• an operating telephone (landline or mobile)
• other means of communication.
• Business continuity plan and checklist sample (DOCX, 46KB) (opens in a new window)
• Incident management team (large facility) structure sample template (PPTX, 54KB) (opens in a new window)
• Incident management team (small facility) structure sample template (PPTX, 51KB) (opens in a new window)
• Communications tree sample template (PPTX, 63KB) (opens in a new window)
• Telephone bomb threat checklist sample template (DOCX, 34KB) (opens in a new window) .

Your emergency evacuation diagram (floor plan) must have both:

• a picture of the floor area
• the path everyone will take to evacuate the building in an emergency
• the designated assembly area/s
• the location of installed emergency equipment and systems such as fire extinguishers.

When deciding on your emergency evacuation assembly points:

• If possible, select more than one location in case the path to or area of one is no longer safe.
• Select an off-site location that provides access to toilets, shelter and water if possible.
• Contact your local council or emergency service. They may be able to help you select an off-site emergency assembly location.
• Check that the location is still suitable every time you rehearse.

Emergency evacuation diagrams must be clearly displayed near each exit of the service premises, FDC residence or venue.

Resources for developing an emergency and evacuation floor plan:

• Evacuation diagram sample template (PPTX, 750KB) (opens in a new window)
• Evacuation diagram checklist (DOCX, 41KB) (opens in a new window)
• Evacuation diagram icons (DOCX, 162KB) (opens in a new window)
• Area map sample template (PPTX, 62KB) (opens in a new window) . This template will assist you when looking at an off-site evacuation assembly point.

Rehearsing your emergency evacuations (i.e. drills) will help you identify potential problems in the evacuation routes or procedures.

Use real scenarios and remember to appoint an observer to record how the rehearsal went.

All services, and each FDC educator, must rehearse their emergency and evacuation plan

• every 3 months
• with everyone present at the service on the day, including any visitors
• keep a documented record of each rehearsal
• think about what worked well, and what you need to change or update.

It's important that after each drill, you:

• have a staff debrief to discuss what went well and what could be improved
• review your evacuation procedures and emergency arrangements
• incorporate anything you learned from the drill
• check that the service’s emergency contact details are up to date.
• Drill de-brief report - sample template (DOCX, 34KB) (opens in a new window)
• Drill observer record - sample template (DOCX, 46KB) (opens in a new window)
• Emergency de-brief facilitator guide (DOCX, 35KB) (opens in a new window)
• Post emergency record - sample template (DOCX, 34KB) (opens in a new window) .

Asthma, allergies, and bites and stings

• Asthma Australia (opens in a new window)
• National Allergy Strategy (opens in a new window)
• Allergy and Anaphylaxis Australia (opens in a new window)
• Bites and stings first aid (opens in a new window) .

Quality Assessment and Regulation Division (QARD)

QARD is the Regulatory Authority in Victoria.

For enquiries contact:

• Phone: 1300 307 415 (9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday)
• Email: [email protected] .

To contact your QARD regional office, refer to Which early childhood services are regulated (opens in a new window) .

Department region emergency management contact numbers

• South West Victoria: 1300 332 232
• South East Victoria: 1300 338 738
• North Western Victoria: 1300 338 691
• North Eastern Victoria: 1300 333 231 .

Updated 1 February 2024

Emergency Evacuation Procedure in Childcare

10 Oct, 2019

Childcare centres must take the utmost care when creating emergency evacuation plans.

Know your legal obligations Supporting children in coping with emergencies requires extremely detailed planning and careful implementation. Young children’s abilities need to be considered when it comes to following directions, thinking independently and mobilising to a safer location. Here’s our guide to help you create a safer emergency evacuation plan for a childcare setting:

Know your legal obligations

When creating any childcare emergency plan, be sure to consider Australian and state-wide regulations and codes. In Australia, it’s the legal responsibility of the PCBU (Persons Conducting Business or Undertakings) to ensure that all people on the premises are carefully accounted for in an emergency. You can learn more about Australia’s building fire safety requirements here.

Clear priorities, policies and procedures in your childcare facility

To maintain effectiveness, your childcare centre’s emergency policies and procedures should be carefully outlined, strictly enforced, regularly monitored and constantly reviewed. Your emergency plan must include clear instructions that nominated educators and supervising staff must follow in each kind of emergency. It must also include the locations of fire equipment, all evacuation and meeting points. Not only is it important to have a strong plan in place, evacuation diagrams must also be highly accessible – displayed in clear and visible positions.

Different scenarios, different plans

Emergency evacuation plans should never take a ‘one size fits all’ approach because emergencies naturally come with different kinds of risks and dangers. For example, while a fire might require immediate evacuation, a dangerous person on the premises might require the childcare centre to go into lockdown first. It’s crucial to establish a strategy for each scenario, with a list of priorities specific to each.

Train all staff, carers and educators on your childcare emergency evacuation procedure

Training your staff on your procedures is crucial, and childcare staff must be extremely well-trained across several emergency skills. Firstly, they must know how to operate fire equipment. Secondly, it’s essential to ensure they are also trained in first aid that there are suitable first aid facilities. Thirdly, staff must also be aware of the specific policies and procedures of your childcare centre –  after all, there’s not much point in having a superb emergency evacuation plan if nobody knows how to use it.

Regular drills to test efficiency

Emergency drills are a great way to “drill” in the processes for staff and children, helping keep panic to a minimum, while ensuring any future true emergency evacuations are carried out in the most effective manner. The process of repetition is extremely effective for teaching children. For example, you can instruct them to walk, not run, to stay calm and to follow instructions, so that they’re less frightened in the case of true danger. Plus, drills also help you work out if any parts of your evacuation plan are ineffective so you can continue to improve processes even further.

Create evacuation diagrams

Once you have your strategy in place, you’ll need to get evacuation diagrams made. In accordance with Australian Safety Standards , your diagrams must display:

• The Floor Plan and Site Plan of the facility, its Assembly Point and its Emergency Procedures
• The nearest exit from the marked “You are here” point
• The location of the nearest fire equipment

Further resources

• Read our advice for creating a flawless emergency response plan
• Determine if your fire evacuation plan conforms with safety standards
• View key emergency procedures to maximise the safety of your workplace or facility
• Read about the signs of a good emergency response plan

Not sure how to build an evacuation plan for your childcare centre? Fire Block Plans is here to help you and your team. Our highly-qualified experts will help find a suitable emergency evacuation plan, no matter how unique your requirements may be. Contact us today for more information.

• Fire Alarm Block Plans
• Fire Hydrant Block Plans
• Fire Sprinkler Block Plans
• Tactical Fire Plan
• Evacuation Diagrams
• As Built Shop Drawings
• STRA – Evacuation Plans

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Wednesday 1 May - 10:12 am

Early Childhood Education Services Emergency Planning Guidance

Best Practice Guide [BPG 6/11]

When an emergency such as an earthquake occurs, the safety of a person’s family is generally their first consideration. Parents who entrust the care of their children to others want the reassurance that those caring for and educating their children will do all they can to keep their children safe, particularly when those children are very young.

Having a strong emergency plan in place ahead of time can enable a safe response to emergencies that arise as the result of natural hazards and other emergency situations. The National Emergency Management Agency and the Ministry of Education have jointly developed this Best Practice Guide to help ECE services develop emergency plans and put them into practice.

The primary focus of the Best Practice Guide is the planning process which, if followed, should result in a comprehensive, relevant and practical Emergency Plan. Since there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ solution that can address every situation, the guidance provided is not intended to be a set of rules. Instead, it provides five planning steps and supporting information, including what sorts of issues should be covered in emergency plans, how to gather information to help write emergency plans, and who should be involved and consulted during an emergency plan’s development. The guidance also includes some advice on issues to consider during the planning process about how to transition to a smooth recovery following an emergency event or disaster.

Given that planning for natural hazards is similar to planning for other hazards that ECE services could face (such as fire, power failure, bomb threats etc), the guidance is intended to fit with procedures ECE services might already have in place. It also includes information about which legislative requirements apply to ECE services in the emergency planning context.

Download the complete guide (PDF 1.84MB)

Annex Four – Steps for Developing an Emergency Plan (.doc 120KB)

Annex Five – Hazard Identification List (.doc 84.5KB)

Annex Twelve – Safety Equipment and Emergency Supplies Register (.doc 80.5KB)

Annex Fourteen – Children Release Form (.doc 79KB)

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Centre-based and family day care services are required, under regulation 97(3)(a) and regulation 97(3)(a), (b) respectively, to rehearse their emergency and evacuation response procedures every 3 months, inclusive of evacuation and shelter-in-place scenarios. In addition, regulation 97(3)(b) of the Education and Care Services National Regulations requires that the rehearsals of the emergency and evacuation procedures are documented.

This resource provides 2 forms you can use to plan, execute, evaluate, debrief and document emergency and evacuation procedure rehearsals:

1. Emergency response exercise observer checklist

It is recommended that you nominate someone – for example a staff member, parent or relevant authority who you have consulted with – to observe your rehearsal. The person nominated to observe the rehearsal could use the Emergency response exercise observer checklist (DOCX 73 KB) as a guide to document and gauge the effectiveness of the exercise.

2. Emergency response exercise debrief and report template

This template can be used to debrief staff or others who participated in your service’s rehearsal. Actions documented from this debrief can include changes needed to your emergency and evacuation procedures that became apparent through the exercise rehearsal.

These forms are generic and, if used, should be customised to the specific exercise and the needs of your service.

If possible, it is recommended that the person you choose to observe and lead the exercise debrief not take a direct part in the rehearsal itself. This allows the observer to objectively assess the response. You may wish to consult with the wider community andrelevant authorities to seek observers for each exercise.

Taking the time to debrief each exercise is important. This formal process offers an opportunity to critically evaluate the performance of the participants and the effectiveness of emergency response procedures tested by the emergency response exercise.

Debriefing is a form of critical reflection that allows your service to systematically and regularly reflect on emergency procedures and practices, and make any necessary changes when identified to ensure the safety, health and wellbeing of children. Please refer to Exceeding theme 2: Practice is informed by critical reflection in Exceeding Guidance for Standard 2.2 of the Guide to the National Quality Framework for more information.

• Emergency response exercise debrief and report template (DOCX 225 KB)

Disclaimer: this resource is for reference and should only be used as an aid to develop and supplement your education and care service’s emergency and evacuation procedures. It is the responsibility of the approved provider of an education and care service to ensure that their emergency and evacuation procedures are rehearsed every 3 months.

Why we need them

The hurried activity and loud noises of an emergency procedure or evacuation can upset a child, particularly one who is unaware of what is happening. Regularly rehearsing your service’s emergency and evacuation rehearsals is important in ensuring children and staff know what to do in the event of an emergency and can assist you in informing children as to what they should expect in the event of an emergency without scaring them or undermining its importance. Equally important is debriefing and reporting on each exercise so your service can critically reflect on what went well and what might be done differently for future rehearsals.

When undertaking rehearsals of your emergency and evacuation procedures, you may wish to consider information in the Australian Standard AS 3745:2010 Planning for emergencies in facilities (AS3745). AS3745 is widely accepted throughout the emergency planning industry as the benchmark when it comes to implementing emergency procedures and training within an organisation. This information can be found in Section 6 Training, Section 7 Emergency response exercises and Section 8 Review and routine servicing. The department does not require you to purchase a copy of AS3745 to meet emergency and incident requirements under the National Quality Framework.

There are differing terms in regulation 97 of the Education and Care Services National Regulations and AS3745 that describe the same thing. To help assist you in researching and consulting with relevant authorities on your service’s emergency and evacuation procedures, we have listed the comparative terms below:

Sample scenarios to support drills

The below sample scenarios can be used to help your service with rehearsing your emergency and evacuation procedures. In these scenarios, you will be asked to read through a situation and complete a task that draws upon your emergency and evacuation procedures.

There are different scenarios to ensure different types of emergencies are considered and rehearsed.

Completing the tasks will support your service to reflect on your emergency and evacuation procedures in different situations, identify any areas for improvement, and strengthen your procedures to ensure the health, safety and wellbeing of everyone at your service in any emergencies.

• Sample scenarios to support drills – Bushfire (DOCX 152 KB)
• Sample scenario to support drills – Extreme weather (DOCX 148.5 KB)
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Evacuation Response in Centers (Example and Worksheet)

Use this sheet to determine what each person in the center is responsible for during an evacuation response. Fill this out for the emergencies that you selected as a “Yes” or “Maybe” in the What Types of Emergencies Could You Experience? worksheet.

Download the PDF

Resource Type: Publication

National Centers: Health, Behavioral Health, and Safety

Last Updated: May 7, 2020

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