Legislative responsibility for child protection has become a major theme in the international human rights arena and a major policy issue within early childhood education and care. Australia’s proposed National Agenda for Early Childhood identifies early child abuse and neglect as cumulative and persistent risk factors within a body of research literature in health, criminology, and education. The paper notes that children in Australia and other jurisdictions are seen to be living in increasingly risky spaces, and that adult-designed child protection policy and legislation are being used to manage and minimize child risk in light of threats posed by adults and other children. As a result of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989, which Australia has yet to adopt into Australian law, there have been numerous major legislative initiatives within Australian State and Territory governments. Several of these initiatives are reviewed. The current child protection legislative and policy directions in Australia are attempts to provide directives to safeguard children’s rights. These directives are produced and administered within the changing family and social culture and are designed to impact upon the sizeable cost of early childhood abuse and neglect by both increasing resiliency and decreasing risks. Australia’s geographical vastness, its demographic diversity, and multilayered governance point to the need for improved coordination in child protection so that it can better meet the protective rights and needs of children and their families. References