Childcare emergency and evacuation procedures: regulation 97, the risk assessment, quarterly rehearsals and lockdown

Last reviewed: 29 October 2026. Checked against the Education and Care Services National Regulations, reprint current as at 12 August 2026.

Emergency procedures are the one area of the Regulations where the evidence is a calendar: four rehearsals a year, one risk assessment review a year, a plan by every exit. Missed rehearsals are the most common regulation 97 finding and the easiest to avoid. This page sets out each requirement, what the risk assessment should cover beyond fire, what a rehearsal record needs, the lockdown question, and family day care.

What the procedures must set out (regulation 97(1))

• Instructions for what must be done in the event of an emergency: who raises the alarm, who calls emergency services, who takes the attendance record, the sign-in register, the medication and the emergency contact list, who sweeps each room including the bathrooms and the sleep room, where the assembly point is, how children are counted, how families are contacted, and who is in charge.
• An emergency and evacuation floor plan showing exits, routes and the assembly area.
• For premises in a multi-storey building shared with other occupants on a storey without direct egress to an assembly area: all possible evacuation routes and the ones proposed to be used; how all children including non-ambulatory children will be evacuated; the stages of the evacuation; the person in charge; staff roles; and the arrangements made with the other occupants of the building.

The risk assessment (regulation 97(2) to (2B))

The approved provider must ensure a risk assessment is conducted to identify the potential emergencies relevant to the service. Fire is the starting point, not the list. Emergencies regulators expect a service to have considered, where relevant to its location:

• Fire inside the building; bushfire and smoke; storm, flood and cyclone; extreme heat.
• Medical emergency, anaphylaxis, missing child, which trigger the incident procedures as well.
• Lockdown or shelter-in-place: an intruder, a violent parent, a police operation nearby, a dangerous animal, a chemical spill or gas leak.
• Utility failure: power, water, sewerage, telephone; the regulation 98 duty to be able to contact emergency services.
• Bomb threat or other threats; nearby industrial or traffic incidents.
• Emergencies off site: on an excursion or in transport (the excursion and transport risk assessments cover these).

At a centre-based service the risk assessment is reviewed at least every 12 months and as soon as practicable after any circumstance that may affect safe evacuation, for example a building change, a new room, a change in the children’s mobility or a nearby development, and the procedures are updated afterwards. Keep the dated review with the procedures.

Rehearsals (regulation 97(3))

• Every 3 months at a centre-based service, by the staff members, volunteers and children present on the day and the responsible person present at the time. Every 3 months at each family day care residence or venue by the educator and the children in care that day.
• Documented: date and time, which procedure was rehearsed (evacuation, lockdown), who took part, how long the evacuation took, what went wrong and what was changed. A register with a date and a signature does not show that the rehearsal was evaluated.
• Rotate the time of day and the scenario so that the sleep room, the outdoor area, meal times and the early and late shifts are each rehearsed over the year. Staff who only ever work at 7 am need to have rehearsed at 7 am.
• Rehearse both evacuation and lockdown. Regulation 97 does not name lockdown, but the risk assessment will identify it, and assessors ask about it.

Display (regulation 97(4)) and communication (regulation 98)

A copy of the floor plan and the instructions must be displayed in a prominent position near each exit, including in a family day care residence or venue. The plan displayed must match the room it is in: a plan for the whole building taped by the back door of the toddler room is the usual finding. Regulation 98 requires an operating telephone or other means of communication that enables immediate contact with emergency services, parents and the regulatory authority, at the premises and, for family day care, at each residence and venue, available to educators at all times.

What goes with the procedures

• An emergency bag or box at each exit route: attendance record or tablet, enrolment and emergency contact details, medication and medical management plans for the children present, first aid kit (regulation 89), a charged phone, a torch, water, nappies and wipes, and a high-visibility vest for the person in charge.
• Up-to-date emergency contacts for every child (regulation 160 enrolment record) and a way to contact every family quickly (regulation 98).
• Children’s participation: rehearsals are a learning experience under Quality Area 2, and children who know the drill evacuate faster.
• Links to the incident report page for the notifications after an emergency: any emergency for which emergency services attended is a serious incident notifiable within 24 hours, and an incident that closes the service or reduces numbers is notifiable within 7 days.

Where emergency procedures go wrong

• Rehearsal gaps: three in a year instead of four, or none in the quarter the service was short-staffed.
• A risk assessment that is a fire plan with the date changed each year.
• No lockdown procedure, or one that has never been practised with children.
• The displayed plan not matching the room, exits blocked by storage, or a gate on the evacuation route padlocked.
• Non-ambulatory children not planned for: no evacuation cot or multi-seat pram at the infant room exit.
• The responsible person present not taking part in the rehearsal, which 97(3)(a) requires.

Frequently asked questions

This page is a research summary, not legal or compliance advice. Element and regulation wording is reproduced from the current reprint of the National Regulations; confirm the position with your regulatory authority before relying on it for a compliance decision.