Navigating the unexpected: Crisis and emergency contexts

Crisis and emergency contexts in early childhood include climate-related disasters such as bushfires, floods and storms, but also family violence, abuse, displacement, and situations where children may enter child protection or out-of-home care. These are not all the same kind of crisis, but they have one thing in common: they disrupt children’s sense of safety, routine, and belonging. In early childhood education and care (ECEC), this matters a lot because young children often experience crisis through changes in behaviour, sleep, relationships, play, and emotional regulation rather than through direct verbal explanation. Research on children in fragile contexts also reminds us that emergencies are not only short events; for some children, insecurity continues long after the original crisis has passed (Cologon & Hayden, 2017; Wall et al., 2016).

From a sociological perspective, ecological theory helps explain that children are affected not only by the crisis itself but by the systems around them, including family, community, services, housing, and policy (Nolan & Raban, 2015). A trauma-informed perspective is also important because it shifts educators away from asking “what is wrong with this child?” to asking “what may have happened, and what does this child need to feel safe?” (Wall et al., 2016). This issue is also diverse and evolving in Australia. First Nations children are significantly overrepresented in child protection and out-of-home care, and displacement may involve not only physical relocation but also separation from family, community, and Country (AIHW, 2026; SNAICC, n.d.). At the same time, climate-related disasters and domestic and family violence continue to shape family stress and children’s daily lives in changing ways across Australia.

Australia’s policy response in this area sits across child protection, family violence, and disaster resilience. Nationally, Safe and Supported: The National Framework for Protecting Australia’s Children 2021–2031 aims to reduce child abuse and neglect and their intergenerational impacts, with a strong emphasis on children being supported in family, community, and culture (DSS, 2025). In disaster policy, the Disaster Ready Fund is the Australian Government’s flagship disaster resilience and risk reduction initiative, providing up to $1 billion over five years from 2023 to 2028 to support communities to better prepare for climate-related and other natural hazards (NEMA, 2026). In NSW, the NSW Domestic and Family Violence Plan 2022–2027 and the introduction of a coercive control offence reflect a stronger state response to violence as a pattern of harm rather than only isolated incidents (NSW Department of Communities and Justice [DCJ], 2022).

Recent data shows why this matters urgently. At 30 June 2024, 59,900 children were on care and protection orders in Australia and 44,900 were in out-of-home care; 25,000 of the children on orders were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children (AIHW, 2026). AIHW also reports that in 2024–25, family and domestic violence was the main reason for seeking specialist homelessness assistance among 44% of children aged 0–14 (AIHW, 2026). These numbers show that crisis is not rare or exceptional for many children. Policy responses shape ECEC practice quite directly: services must understand child-safe obligations, emergency planning, referral pathways, and culturally responsive responses. Under the National Regulations, services must have emergency and evacuation policies and rehearse procedures regularly, while NSW also provides emergency management templates and planning guidance for ECEC services (ACECQA, 2021; NSW Department of Education, 2026). Policy therefore influences not only what services must do legally, but also how prepared, trauma-aware, and responsive they are in everyday practice.