Early Childhood Update
Issue 6|May2014
It is an important and exciting time for the early
childhood sector with several regulatory
amendments coming into effect in mid-2014 and
two separate reviews.
The Productivity Commission Inquiry into Childcare
and Early Childhood Learning is already underway.
For more information on the inquiry please visit
www.pc.gov.au.
A review of the NQF is also scheduled for 2014 and
will focus on whether agreed objectives and
outcomes have been met.
The Department’s Early Years Strategic Plan was
released by Minister Lovell at the Victorian Early
Years Foundation K-2 conference. This plan sets an
ambitious agenda to improve outcomes and better
support for children from birth to eight years and
linking children’s learning from birth to primary
school.
Madeleine Smith,
Executive Director,
Quality Assessment and Regulation Division
National Quality Framework
Resources
A number of new fact sheets for centre-based
services are available through the Department
website to provide services with information about
the changes which commenced on 1 January 2014.



Children preschool age and under
Children over preschool age
Early childhood teachers
An updated educator to child ratio calculator has
been added, which assists services to easily check
required educator to child ratios.
www.education.vic.gov.au/childhood/providers/reg
ulation/Pages/nqffactsheets.aspx
Have you …

Checked all staff and educators have a current
Working with Children Check (WWCC) or
Victorian Institute of Teaching (VIT)
registration?

Ensured that your service meets the first aid
qualification requirements, in that at least one
person is in attendance at any place that
children are being educated and cared for by
the service has current approved first aid
training, anaphylaxis management training and
emergency asthma management training?

Checked if all your staff and educators meet the
new 2014 qualifications requirements?

Ensured that all your staff records are current
and are accurate?

Checked that all contact details for your service
are correct on NQAITS?
Assessment and Rating Process
State and territory ministers recently agreed to a
number of actions to streamline the assessment and
rating process. These changes recognise assessments
have been in place for some time and education and
care services have a greater understanding of the
process. These changes will be rolled out by the
Department in mid-2014. Services with an
assessment and rating visit commencing after 21 July
2014 will be subject to the new process.
The changes to the process include:
More flexible timeframes – this is to reduce the time
between the start of the process and services being
notified of their final ratings. This change recognises
that all services have their Quality Improvement Plan
(QIP) in place and don’t need as long to prepare for
the visit. Services will also be provided a 4 week
timeframe in which the assessment visit will occur.
Assessment and rating report – A new report
template will be introduced that presents the
evidence from the assessment and rating visit in a
streamlined and user friendly format.
More information about these changes is available in
the ACECQA Newsletter which is available on the
website at www.acecqa.gov.au/newsletter-issue-6and also in the Guide to Assessment and Rating for
Services (pages 9–10) available on the ACECQA
website at www.acecqa.gov.au.
Qualifications
Since 1 January 2014, some new qualification
requirements apply for educators in both
centre-based and family day care services.
Centre-Based Services
In centre-based services these requirements apply to
educators counted in the educator to child ratios
(not to educators above ratio requirements).
Children preschool age or under - 50% of the
educators required to meet the educator to child
ratios must hold, or be actively working towards, an
approved diploma level qualification. All other
educators required to meet ratio requirements must
hold, or be actively working towards at least an
approved certificate III level education and care
qualification (regulation 126(1)).
Children over preschool age – 50% of the educators
required to meet the educator to child ratios must
continue to hold, or be enrolled and studying for, at
least a diploma level qualification approved for
educators working with children over preschool age.
All other educators required to meet the educator to
child ratios must, hold or be actively working
towards at least an approved certificate III level
education and care qualification (regulation 356).
Commencement of study - newly appointed
educators engaged to educate and care for children
over preschool age required to meet the educator to
child ratios must either hold, or be actively working
towards, an approved certificate III level education
and care qualification within 6 months of
commencing to educate and care for children
(regulation 356(3)(b)).
For detailed information see the Staffing
Arrangements fact sheet at:
www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/childhood/pr
oviders/regulation/nqfstaffing.pdf
Transitional and savings provisions for existing
experience and qualification
Until 31 December 2015 educators at centre-based
services can also be included to meet relevant
educator to child ratio requirements without having,
or actively working towards, a certificate III level
education and care qualification if they were
continuously employed as an educator for a period
of at least 15 years and employed by the same
approved provider before 1 January 2012 (regulation
240).
The requirement to hold an approved certificate III
level qualification does not apply to educators in
centre-based services and family day care educators
who completed a professional development course
approved by the Secretary under the Victorian
children’s services legislation by 31 December 2011
(regulations 364 and 366). For more detailed
information see the Professional development in lieu
of minimum training (grandfathering) factsheet at:
www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/childhood/pr
oviders/regulation/grandfathering.pdf
Early Childhood Teachers (ECT)
Centre-based services primarily educating children
preschool age or under must employ a full-time or
full-time equivalent ECT or have access to, or have
an ECT in attendance of, depending on the number
of children being educated and cared for on a given
day. For detailed information see the Early
Childhood teachers fact sheet:
www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/childhood/pr
oviders/regulation/2014ecteachers.pdf
Services should note that different qualification
requirements apply to funded kindergarten
programs – please see our fact sheet for detailed
information:
www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/childhood/pr
oviders/regulation/ectreqmtforkinders.pdf
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Family Day Care
In family day care services, all family day care
educators that must have, or be actively working
towards, an approved certificate III level education
and care qualification or higher. All family day care
co-ordinators must have at least an approved
diploma level education and care qualification.
For detailed information see the Family day care
services factsheet at:
www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/childhood/pr
oviders/regulation/2014fdc.pdf
Waivers
Where an education and care service is experiencing
genuine difficulty or extenuating circumstances in
meeting certain requirements of the National Law
(physical environment and staffing arrangements)
the service may apply for a waiver.
care qualifications published under the
National Regulations;
c) are a diploma qualified staff member or a
teaching staff member; or
d) holds a primary school teaching qualification;
or
e) in the case of an early childhood intervention
staff member, holds a qualification in a field
the Secretary is satisfied substantially
equivalent (regulation 60)
School holidays care services
Staff members must:
 hold or commence obtaining a qualification
referred to in points a, b, c, or d (above) within
6 months of commencing to care for or
educate children at the service; or
 hold a qualification in a field the Secretary is
satisfied is acceptable.
For more detailed information see the Waivers
(general information) factsheet at:
www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/childhood/pr
oviders/regulation/waiversgeneral.pdf or email
[email protected].
Victorian Children’s Services*
* including
associated
*Including
Associated
Services services
Qualifications
All children’s services licensed under the
Children’s Services Act 1996 (Act) and Children’s
Services Regulations 2009 (Regulations) must
comply with new minimum training requirements
that came into effect on 1 January 2014. Services
must ensure that each staff member caring for or
educating children meets at least the minimum
training requirements as outlined in the
Regulations.
Standard, limited hours and short term services
Staff members must:
a) hold a Certificate III in Children’s Services, or a
qualification or training that the Secretary is
satisfied is substantially equivalent or superior
to a Certificate III in Children’s Services; or
b) hold a qualification included in the list of
approved Certificate III level education and
Teaching staff requirements
Teaching staff requirements apply to standard
licence services and approved associated
children’s services with a standard service
component. The requirements vary according to
number of children the service is licensed, or in
the case of an approved children’s service,
approved to care for and educate.
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Services licensed to educate or care for 25 or more
children at any one time
Teaching staff members must be caring for or
educating children at the standard service or each
standard service component for at least the lessor
of the following:
 50% of the time the service is open to care
for or educate children; or
 20 hours per week (regulation 52(1)).
Services licensed to educate or care for 25 or
fewer children at any one time
staff member can be considered to be ‘on duty’ as
long as they remain on the premises and are able
to support the staff member caring for or
educating children and intervene if necessary.
If the prescribed ratios that apply to your service
require the service to have qualified staff, the staff
member who is caring for or educating the
children in this arrangement must be the qualified
staff member. In a limited hours type I service this
staff member must meet the minimum training
requirements.
These services must have access to a teaching
staff member working with the service for at least
20% of the time the service provides education or
care.
Teaching staff member absence due to short
term illness or annual leave
If a teaching staff member is absent due to short
term illness or annual leave (except maternity
leave, long service leave or other similar leave),
they can be replaced by a qualified staff member
or a person who holds a primary teaching
qualification (regulations 52(2)(b) and 52A(3)(b)).
They can also be counted in the child/qualified
staff ratios.
The Regulations define a staff member as
“a person who is employed or has been
appointed or engaged to be responsible for
the care or education of children at a
children’s service” (regulation 5) and must
have a staff record that includes details of a
current working with children check or
Victorian Institute of Teaching (VIT).
registration.
Meeting the minimum staff member on duty
requirements
A children’s service other than a school holidays
care service must ensure that at least 2 staff
members are on duty whenever children are being
cared for or educated by the service (regulation
50).
Being ‘on duty’ does not necessarily mean that a
staff member is caring for or educating the
children. If the child/staff ratios that apply to the
service mean that only 1 staff member is required
to meet the educator to child ratio, the second
Exemptions
Where a children’s service is experiencing genuine
difficulty or extenuating circumstances in meeting
any of the requirements of the Children’s Services
Act 1996 or the Children’s Services Regulations
2009 the licensee may apply to the Department
for an exemption by telephone on 1300 307 415
or by email at
[email protected]
Keeping in touch
Visit our website www.education.vic.gov.au
Phone us on 1300 307 415
Email us on
[email protected]
Department of Education & Early Childhood
Development, GPO Box 4367, MELBOURNE 3001
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