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CHCIC501A: Manage children’s services workplace practice to address regulations and quality assurance

Manage legislative and regulatory compliance in children’s services organisation

Contents

Understanding legal and quality assurance requirements and processes in children’s services 3

Overview of legal and quality assurance requirements 4

QIAS and accreditation 7

Overview of Child Care Quality Assurance 7

How does accreditation work? 8

The accreditation process 10

What happens if a centre doesn’t achieve accreditation?15

Regulations and licensing 18

What do regulations cover? 18

The licensing process 20

What happens if a centre isn’t meeting licensing standards? 24

Topic review 26

Appendix 1 27

Websites for Children’s Services / Child Care Regulations for Australian states and territories 27

Appendix 2 27

Common acronyms in children’s services 27

2 Diploma of Children’s Services: CHCIC501A: Reader LO 9350 © NSW DET 2010

Understanding legal and quality assurance requirements and processes in children’s services

Legal and quality assurance requirements within the Children’s Services industry are in a constant state of change. Even as new Acts, regulations and processes are being introduced and implemented, work has begun to update and improve them, ready for the next lot of ‘changes’.

So, why so many changes? To summarise, changes are necessary because;

• We are continuously researching and updating our knowledge on child development and ‘best practice’.

• The need for child care is constantly increasing, not only as a result of society becoming more accepting and developing a better understanding of what it’s about, but also to cater for the increasing number of working parents.

• The increasing diversity of Australian families mean we have to continuously monitor and reflect our new understandings in the service we provide in order to maintain ‘inclusive’ and relevant services.

As we will see later in this topic, it is therefore essential that child care professionals stay abreast of changes, not only as they occur, but also in their research and development stages.

This unit makes reference to Acts, regulations, standards and processes that are current at the time of writing; in particular

• Children’s Services Regulations 2004 (NSW), and• Quality Improvement and Accreditation System (Practices Guide 1st ed.

2005).

While the Quality Improvement and Accreditation System (QIAS) is operated on a National basis by the National Childcare Accreditation Council (NCAC) and is therefore consistent across Australia. However, it is important to note that each Australian state and territory has its own regulations for children’s services. As this topic refers to NSW regulations, if you are studying in another state or territory you will need to become familiar with the relevant regulations. A list of

Diploma of Children’s Services: CHCIC501A: Reader LO 9350 3© NSW DET 2010

each state/territory organisation responsible for these can be found in Appendix A.

Note: The Children’s Services industry has so many acronyms it makes your head spin! To help you out, a list of frequently used acronyms can be found in Appendix B.

Overview of legal and quality assurance requirements Children’s services are possibly one of the most highly regulated and monitored industries, and rightly so! It is estimated that in March 2004, 752,000 children were being cared for out of home (2004 Government Census of Child Care Services, conducted by Family and Community Services (FaCS) in 2005). For this reason alone, regulations and standards are imperative in order to ensure that children are getting the best possible quality of care and education, in a safe, secure and caring environment. In the ‘History of National Childcare Accreditation Council’ document (NCAC 2006), it is stated that

‘a child can spend up to 12,000 hours in child care before starting school: that’s only 500 hours less than the child will spend in lessons during the whole 13 years of schooling’

This figure is calculated by multiplying five years of childcare, by 50 hours per week, by 50 weeks per year and while it may not be a true reflection of the hours spent in childcare by all children, it is certainly a figure we can’t overlook when planning to provide quality childcare. While the debate over whether childcare is a beneficial or detrimental option for children continues (and probably always will!), it is at least accepted that the care provided to a child in the early years, is crucial to each child’s overall development, well being and generally speaking, ‘life’!

Hence regulations and Child Care Quality Assurance (CCQA)!

The regulatory environment under which NSW long day care centres operateWe have seen that Children’s Services Regulations are specific to each state or territory. So too are many legislative Acts, so if you are studying outside NSW you will need to become familiar with your relevant state’s Acts. However like CCQA, some legislation is at a federal level, applicable to all Australian states and territories. These are called Commonwealth Acts.

The following are the relevant NSW Acts:

• Child Protection (Prohibited Employment) Act 1998 No 146


• Child Protection Legislation Amendment Act 2003 No 90• Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998 No 157• Children and Young Persons Legislation (Repeal and Amendment) Act 1998

No 158• Commission for Children and Young People Act 1998 No 146• Ombudsman Act 1974 No 68Interpret and evaluate regulations and

quality assurance standards relating to children’s services• Occupational Health and Safety Act 2000• Workers Compensation Act 1987• NSW Industrial Relations Act 1996• NSW Anti-Discrimination Act 1997• NSW Anti-Discrimination Amendments (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act

2004• Local Government Act 1993• Crimes Act 1900• Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979• Food Act 2003• Public Health (General) Act 2002• Vocational Education and Training Act 2005• Smoke-Free Environment Act 2000

Source: NSW Government Cabinet Office: www.legislation.nsw.gov.au

On a national level, the following are the relevant Commonwealth Acts:

• Equal Employment Opportunity Act 1987• Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Amendment Act 1999• National Health Act 1953• Ombudsman Amendment Act 1983• Privacy Act 1998

Source: Commonwealth Attorney General’s Department www.scaleplus.law.gov.au

In addition to the above, childcare centres must also adhere to a range of various regulations, standards, recommendations and guidelines, such as:

• Children’s Services Regulations 2004• Quality Improvement and Accreditation System (QIAS) quality standards• Australian and New Zealand Standard: Playground Surfacing• Standards Association of Australia (includes standards for cots)• Building Code of Australia• Cancer Council of Australia• NSW Cancer Council• Industrial Awards• NSW Interagency Guidelines for Child Protection Intervention (2000)• Play Equipment Standards


• Roads and Traffic Authority Guidelines• WorkCover Authority Standards (including Workers Compensation and

OH&S)

What a lot of rules to comply with! Fortunately you will have covered many of these in previous relevant units, and some of the above are more applicable to someone building a new child care centre. However it’s time to refresh your memory on some of the legislation that you will need to have a thorough knowledge of on a daily basis.

Activity 1


QIAS and accreditation

Overview of Child Care Quality AssuranceUp until now in your course, you will have been looking at the various Quality Areas and Principles relevant to each particular unit you have studied. Now it’s time to bring all of those Principles together, and have a look at the ‘big picture’.

The Child Care Quality Assurance (CCQA) process was born out of the realisation that while regulations provide the structure for child care services, they do not necessarily ensure the quality of a service. While regulations look at minimum standards, accreditation places more focus on outcomes for the children and staff practices. The accreditation process therefore aims to set standards for every aspect of child care, and provide a measuring tool with which to assess the level of quality being provided. For example regulations dictate that a service must have children’s books, where accreditation takes it a step further by setting out standards for how the books should be used!

Who does accreditation apply to?

The accreditation process currently applies to;

• Long day care centres (QIAS) • Family day care (FDCQA)• Outside school hours care (OSHCQA)

Each of the above service types goes through the same process, but they have Quality Areas and Principles that are relevant to their service type.

While participation in these Quality Assurance (QA) systems is voluntary, it is connected to Child Care Benefit (CCB), so in fact, if a service wishes to claim CCB in order to dramatically reduce the fees paid to the service by the individual families (and therefore making a centre financially viable as it is affordable for lower income families), they have little option but to participate!


How does accreditation work?The accreditation process works through a series of ‘steps’ (discussed in detail in the topic the accreditation process), that require staff in conjunction with all stakeholders to thoroughly look at, and evaluate how they do things. By rating the quality being provided against a set of standards, they are able to make changes or improvements in order to provide, maintain and/or improve the quality of the service being provided.

As a part of the process, centres are required to work through a set of 7 Quality Areas and their underlying 33 Principles that cover the various aspects of child care (for example, relationships and interactions, programming, OH&S and managing a service). Each principle has a set of quality indicators that are used by staff, centre management and families to ‘rate’ the centre.

The quality indicators have four levels, or standards. These are;

• Unsatisfactory—the centre is not demonstrating one or more indicators at the satisfactory level.

• Satisfactory—the centre is demonstrating ALL satisfactory indicators.• Good Quality—the centre is meeting all indicators for satisfactory, plus

demonstrating most of the indicators for good quality. The centre may be demonstrating some high quality indicators, but ‘good quality’ best describes current practise.

• High Quality—in addition to demonstrating all satisfactory indicators, most of the good quality and high quality indicators are being met, therefore ‘high quality’ best describes current practise.

While indicators are not given for ‘unsatisfactory’, simply not demonstrating ALL satisfactory indicators deems the centre to be performing at an unsatisfactory level.

The centre then undergoes an external assessment, or Validation, followed by the final Accreditation Decision being made by a panel of Moderators.

The National Childcare Accreditation Council (NCAC) provides centres with a complimentary set of the publications required to work through the accreditation process. Further copies of each publication are available, but must be purchased from the NCAC. These publications include:

• The QIAS Quality Practices Guide. This is the primary resource for centres, detailing the 7 Quality Areas and 33 Principles, and giving the quality indicators for each principle.

• The QIAS Handbook. The handbook provides background information on the QIAS, the 7 Quality Areas and 33 Principles of quality care, and an overview of the steps involved in the accreditation process.

• The QIAS Self-study Report. This is the document used by centres to record their ‘ratings’, as well as comments to support the rating they have


indicated for each Principle. It is also used to record the centre’s Continuing Improvement Plan

• QIAS Support Documents. Support documents cover various aspects of the accreditation process and are automatically sent out to centres as the centre reaches each step. These documents are all available on the NCAC website.

Note: there are different sets of documents for each type of service—long day care, family day care and outside schoo-hours care.

How often does a centre need to go through the accreditation process?As the accreditation system has evolved since its introduction, so too have the requirements for how often a centre must go through accreditation. Some of you may be familiar with the ‘old’ system, where centres could achieve accreditation at a satisfactory level, (‘accredited’ for one year, meaning one year before the next self study report was due) good quality (two years) or high quality (three years). Under the current system, centres that achieve accreditation status are accredited for a period of two and a half years, regardless of which quality level they achieve. The process is viewed as a ‘continuing process’, as centres are expected to maintain their high quality areas, and work on improving other weaker areas that have been identified throughout the process. It is NOT intended as a process whereby centres should achieve accreditation and then forget about it until their next self study report is due!


The accreditation process

Step 1: RegistrationTo participate in the accreditation process and consequently be eligible to receive Child Care Benefit on behalf of families, the centre must register with the NCAC. Registering is a simple process whereby the registration form is submitted to the NCAC, along with an Initial Registration Fee. The centre then receives a Certificate of Registration. It is a compliance requirement that the certificate must be displayed prominently. At this time the centre will also receive a supply of the publications required for participation in accreditation (QIAS).


Once a centre has registered, it is their responsibility to advise the NCAC of any changes in details, such as a change in management personnel, change of contact details or the change of ownership or sponsorship (change of ownership or sponsorship requires the payment of a Change of Registration Fee). All notification of change must be in writing and submitted on the centre’s letterhead. Changes by phone or email are not accepted by NCAC.

New centres registering with the NCAC for the first time have 18 months from the date of the initial registration, in which to submit a self-study report (Step 2).

Following the initial registration, an Annual Registration Fee is payable by all centres to the NCAC for continuing participation. Centres receive an invoice for this fee.

All applicable fees for registration and required publications to participate in the QIAS can be found on the NCAC website.

Step 2: Self-study and continuing improvementAs the name suggests, centres are required to reflect upon their practises and make an assessment of the standard of care being provided, using the 7 Quality Areas and 33 Principles as a guide. The self assessment process should include feedback from families, staff and centre management.

In addition to the Principles that you are probably quite familiar with, the preamble in each Quality Area also contains a lot of information on the expected standards and requirements, and consequently should be read in conjunction with the Principles. The centre must then complete the Self-Study Report for submission to the NCAC.

The Self-Study Report is divided into Principles, each of which is then divided into three parts that require the following information;

• The rating the centre has allocated for each individual part of the Principle (1.1, 1.2 etc.). These will be rated as unsatisfactory, satisfactory, good quality or high quality.

• A written statement providing comments and examples of how the centre is meeting the requirements or standards as per their allocated rating (Centre comments/examples to support ratings).

• A written statement on issues relevant to the principle, that have been identified as requiring improvement to meet standards, improve standards or improve outcomes for children (Centre Continuing Improvement Plan).

The NCAC gives the following example of a self-study process:


• Identify current practices and policies through observation, discussion, meetings, surveys etc.

• Determine whether current practises and policies are Unsatisfactory, Satisfactory, Good Quality or High Quality using the standards outlined in the relevant Quality Practices Guide.

• Identify strengths and opportunities for the change or improvement for each of the Quality Areas.

• Develop plans for making improvements or changes to practices or policies for each Quality Area.

• Prioritise tasks for improvement and set a realistic timeframe for their completion.

• Implement improvements• Review the effectiveness of the improvements by re-evaluating the

service’s practices and policies.

Continue through cycle.

Source; NCAC, CCQA Support Document for Step 2: Self-study and Continuing improvement.

For further reading on this topic you may like to go to the NCAC website (www.ncac.gov.au) and look at:

• Quality Companion: Completing the Self-Study Report, and• QIAS—Factsheet #10; Writing a Continuing Improvement Plan

Step 3: ValidationWhen the NCAC receives your completed self-study report, within twelve weeks two things happen;

• A Validator is assigned to perform the external assessment, or validation visit of your centre. The centre is contacted in writing and advised of;

• the name of the Validator (the centre may advise the NCAC of a conflict of interest when they receive the Validator’s name and would be then assigned a different Validator)

• the duration of the validation visit (depending on licensed numbers of the centre) and,

• the date (or dates) of the validation visit. If a centre requires more than one day, the visits will occur on consecutive days. (When the accreditation system began, centres were given a date for the visit. However this was later changed, and until November 2009 Centres were NOT given a date, but a six week ‘window’ of time in which to expect an unannounced visit. Therefore, the Validator could turn up on any day during this time.)

• The NCAC sends out the Validation Surveys to the centre. While previously there were two types of validation surveys—one for the staff


and director, and one to be given to families, as at November 2009 the NCAC discontinued the use of family surveys. The completed validation surveys must be returned to the NCAC within six weeks of receiving them. The surveys are not then used until Step 4; Moderation.

On the day of the validation visit, the Validator will observe the environment and the practises of the staff, as well as inspecting all relevant records, documents and evidence. The Validator will usually ask questions of the director and staff as further evidence, or to validate claims made in the self-study report. During this time the Validator will be rating all of the principles (just as the centre did), and writing comments and a report. Towards the end of the day the Validation Report will be given to the director to review, followed by a validation report discussion between the director and the Validator. At this time the director is able to write comments on the validation report to explain anything he/she feels may require further explanation, or to disagree with anything written by the Validator.

At the conclusion of the visit the centre is left with a Validation Evaluation Form that can be used to comment on any of the validation process, including the conduct of the Validator. The centre can also attach up to two double-sided pages of additional comments providing further evidence to support practises that they feel the Validator has not either not observed, or that they feel the Validator has unfairly commented on. The Validation Evaluation Form must be received by the NCAC within seven working days of the validation visit.

For further reading on this topic you may like to go to the NCAC website (www.ncac.gov.au) and look at Writing comments in the Validation Report; an extract from Putting Children First, Issue 26 June 2008 (pages 16-17)

Step 4: ModerationFollowing the Validation Visit a moderator independently assesses the centre’s practises and analyses the available documentation, including;

• the centre’s Self-Study Report (including the Continuing Improvement Plans),

• the Validation Report completed by the Validator on the day of the visit,• a summary of ratings from the Validation Surveys, and• the Validation Evaluation Report (if the centre has returned it)

Following the analysis of documentation, the Moderator rates each principle and prepares a Moderation Report.

The ratings from the Self-Study Report, the Validation Surveys, the Validation Report and the Moderator’s Report are then entered into a computer that calculates a combined rating. From this rating it produces a Quality Profile which summarises the centre’s ratings and practises in each of the Quality Areas.


In calculating the data for each Quality Area and Principle, each of the five information sources used are assigned a ‘loading’. This is similar to how each question in a test would be allocated a certain number of marks. The assigned loadings for each source are:

Self-Study Report prepared by centre management 30%

Validation Survey completed by the Director 10%

Validation surveys completed by staff 10%

Validation Report completed by Validator 25%

Moderation Report/Ratings completed by moderator 25%

(Previously the family’s survey accounted for 10% of the loading and the self-study report only 20%. However one of the reasons for discontinuing the family surveys was that all families generally rated the centre ‘good quality’ or ‘high quality’, perhaps giving a biased perspective!)

In compiling the final ‘ratings’ for a centre, any Principles that have been rated as ‘unsatisfactory’ by both the Validator and the Moderator will be rated as unsatisfactory - don’t forget the centre has had the opportunity to provide further evidence in both the Validation Report and the Validation Evaluation Report.

Using the Quality Profile document, as well as all of the other documents, the Moderator prepares a written report for the centre, called the Continuing Improvement Guide. In writing this guide, the centre’s Continuing Improvement Plan is an important reference for the Moderator. This guide supports centres in identifying areas that could be improved and providing recommendations for resources. If any area has been identified as ‘unsatisfactory’ the guide will focus on providing strategies and advice on actions the centre could take to meet the ‘satisfactory’ criteria.

Throughout the Moderation process, all information that could identify the centre, the staff or the Validator has been removed, in order to ensure that the moderation remains completely fair and impartial.

Now it’s finally time for the actual decision to be made!

For further reading on this topic you may like to go to the NCAC website (www.ncac.gov.au) and look at Child Care Quality Assurance Support Document for Step 4: Moderation

Step 5: The accreditation decisionWhile the accreditation decision gets this step all to itself, it is really just a technicality! By now all information has been processed and the Quality Profile completed, so in fact, the accreditation decision is the final ‘signing off’ by the NCAC Board Directors of the result the computer program has generated.


To be Accredited the centre must have achieved a composite rating of ‘satisfactory’ or higher for each and every Quality Area. The Accreditation Decision will therefore either state that the centre is Accredited or Not Accredited.

The centre will then receive documents from NCAC including;

• the letter explaining the Accreditation Decision• a Certificate of Accreditation• the Quality Profile Certificate—a document that include the Quality

Profile as well as the name of the centre and the names of participating staff

• the Continuing Improvement Guide which suggests the areas for further improvement, and

• a summary of all ratings.

This is posted to the representative as advised on the registration details. To ensure the centre is the first to know the Accreditation Decision, it is not available to anyone (either through telephone enquiries or on the website) until at least ten days after it has been posted.

The Certificate of Accreditation and Quality Profile MUST be displayed prominently in the centre—even if it was not the desired outcome!

What happens if a centre doesn’t achieve accreditation?If a centre does not achieve accreditation (‘not accredited’) it is required to submit a new self-study report. This is due six months from the date of the accreditation decision. Centres that fail to achieve accreditation for a second or consecutive subsequent time must submit another self-study report within three months of the accreditation decision. They also must submit an Action Plan outlining the specific steps they are taking to rectify unsatisfactory principles.

Since Child Care Benefit (CCB) is linked to the satisfactory progress through the accreditation process, centres in this situation are reported to the Family Assistance Office (FAO) or appropriate state department responsible for administering CCB. Ultimately this can lead to the suspension or cancellation of a centre’s CCB approval.

In circumstances where a centre has been deemed ‘not accredited’ but would only have to make minor changes in order to receive a satisfactory level, the NCAC may grant Provisional Accreditation. This decision is made at the time of the Accreditation Decision. Centres with provisional accreditation status must rectify the problem and verify this with the NCAC within one month of the decision date


in order to achieve accreditation. If the centre does not rectify the problem and/or submit evidence by the due date, it will receive the status of ‘not accredited’. Provisional accreditation cannot be applied for by a centre—it must be offered to the centre by the NCAC.

The status of every centre, including the status of not accredited, is posted on a public register of Accreditation Status. The register is available for public viewing by accessing the NCAC website.

There are also circumstances whereby an accredited centre’s status can be withdrawn or revoked. This status would apply if;

• NCAC receives a confirmed report from a relevant authority that a centre has had a serious licensing breach and/or child protection issue

• A centre does not respond to NCAC within eight weeks of receiving notification from them of a written complaint about the centre

• Whilst in the process of moderation or the accreditation decision there is a delay in the accreditation decision for more than six months after the date of the validation visit, due to a serious licensing breach, a child protection issue or a written complaint.

In each of these cases the centre’s accreditation status will remain as accreditation withdrawn until such time as any issue/s is satisfactorily resolved. At this time the status will be changed to compliant. However the centre will then be required to submit another self-study report within one month of the resolution of the issue, or when the self-study report would normally become due, whichever is earliest. The centre will not regain the status of accredited until it has successfully worked through Steps three to five and received an accreditation decision.

What is ‘non-compliance’?‘Non-compliant’ is the status given to a centre that has not met their obligations as outlined in the QIAS Compliance Requirements. It is often mistakenly thought that a centre is non-compliant if they have not achieved accreditation. However the status here would be ‘not accredited’! A centre that has been named as non-compliant has;

• failed to pay the initial or annual registration fee• failed to submit a self-study report by the due date• failed to cooperate or participate in a validation visit or spot check, or• the centre has resolved a serious issue and is now working through Step 2

again

As with any other status, the centre’s non-compliant status is posted on the register of Accreditation Status.


Spot checksA spot check is when an NCAC Validator makes an unannounced visit to a centre. Spot checks are routinely and randomly performed on centres in order to ensure that quality practises are continuing after the accreditation decision. The duration of these visits will generally be no more than two hours and in this time the Validator completes a spot check report.

Consequences of any unsatisfactory ratings are the same as those already outlined with the exception that a different time frame may be allocated in which to rectify breaches or submit a new self study report.

A further reason for the discontinuation of the Family Survey was that the spot checks generally reveal that most centres continue to provide quality care following the validation visit and accreditation decision.


Regulations and licensing

Each state or territory in Australia has its own regulations and requirements for which that state or territory government has prime responsibility. The regulations are derived from an Act—for example, NSW Children’s Services regulations are based on the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998, and outline minimum standards required to operate children’s services.

What do regulations cover?The regulations deal with aspects such as;

• the number of children in care• staff qualifications required• staff / child ratios• physical space requirements for rooms and playgrounds• health and safety requirements• administrative requirements.

Who do the regulations and licensing requirements apply to?In NSW it is a legal requirement that long day care centres, preschools, mobile services and family day care services are licensed. (DoCS has also begun licensing school-based preschools (preschools on the grounds of primary schools), and anticipates this will be finalised by July 2010.) Licensed centres must comply with regulations.

Regulations are ‘law’ which means breaches or infringements of regulations are subject to penalties, such as prosecution or in more extreme cases, the ‘shutting down’ of a service. It is Law in NSW that regulations are reviewed and updated every five years, although it can take longer to actually fully implement them! The current NSW regulations are due to be repealed (removed) in September 2009. Obviously the repealed regulations will then be replaced by the ‘new’ regulations, which are expected to take effect in 2010.


When must a centre be relicensed?When a centre is granted a licence it is for a period of a maximum of three years. In some circumstances the licence may be issued for a shorter period. When a centre first opens, it must go through an extensive licensing process. Following the grant of that licence, centres must be relicensed (granted a further licence). This applies;

• When the current licence expires—usually every three years• If there is a change in ownership of the centre• If the centre moves to new premises• If there are substantial modifications or changes to the premises, such as

major renovations.

More information will be given on this in the topic dealing with the licensing process.

There may also be times when it is necessary to apply to vary an existing licence. The reasons for varying a licence would include;

• A change to the name of the company or legal entity of the proprietors where the Australian Business Number (ABN) remains the same

• A change of the name of the centre• A change of name of the existing licensee or existing authorised

supervisor• The proposed change in hours or days that the centre wishes to operate• The proposed increase of maximum licensed positions for children• The proposed variation to the maximum number of children in different

age groups other than stated on the existing licence

Note that many of the above ‘changes’ require prior approval from DoCS. Six weeks notice of the proposed changes must be submitted to DoCS on the appropriate endorsed form OR in the case of changes that also require local council permission, forms must be submitted to DoCS six weeks prior to seeking council permission.


The licensing process

The initial licensing process for a proposed new centre is rather long and involved and is not covered in this unit. However if you are interested in this process, you will find excellent information at www.community.nsw.gov.au. Relicensing, or being granted a ‘further licence’ is a less complex task, and is what we will be looking at here.

It probably sounds like an obvious thing to say, but centres must have a current licence in order to operate—not unlike a driver’s licence where you are considered unlicensed if caught driving the day after your licence expired because you forgot to renew it! Just as it is the law to only drive if you have a driver’s licence and fines will apply if you don’t, so too it is the law to hold a current children’s services licence. In days gone by centres often operated on an expired licence legally, simply because DoCS children’s services officers (CSOs—formerly Children’s Services Advisers) were too overworked to be able to keep up with all the centres requiring licensing inspections. Fortunately times have changed. A lot of the paperwork has been removed from the CSO’s workload, and they are now able to focus on what’s important—supporting centres and carrying out licensing inspection visits.

It is important to be aware that a licence is issued to an individual, a corporation or another legal entity. The licence gives that person or entity the legal right to operate the centre (and all the legal responsibilities that go with it!). As the licence is not actually issued to a centre, it cannot be transferred or sold. When a centre is sold, the purchasing party must therefore apply for ‘their own’ licence.

While licensing does not work through ‘steps’ as accreditation does, it simplifies the process if we look at it in steps. However unlike the five steps of accreditation, we can cover the licensing process in three!


Step 1: Making the application As mentioned earlier in this topic, a licence is generally valid for a period of three years from the date of issue (unless otherwise stated on the licence). In order to ensure that sufficient time is allowed for the application for a further licence to be processed, it is a requirement that a centre sends its application to DoCS six months prior to the expiry of their current licence. To make it a little easier, DoCS sends a reminder out to centres seven months prior to the expiration date. In effect, that gives the centre one month to get their paperwork into order and sent off!

The first step in gaining a further licence is therefore completing the required forms. All forms are available on the DoCS website. DoCS recommends that rather than printing out forms and saving them, you only print off the forms when you need them, as they are frequently being updated in order to streamline the process.

Once completed, all forms and necessary attachments must be sent to DoCS Children’s Services Directorate. The Children’s Services Directorate is home to the Centralised Licensing and Regulatory Support Unit which as the name implies, is a centralised licensing unit that processes all ‘paperwork’ connected to licensing and relicensing. This unit is a relatively new initiative which was established in order to not only streamline the various licensing processes, but to ‘free up’ the time of CSOs (who previously processed all applications within their region).

When the Centralised Licensing and Regulatory Support Unit receive your application package they send an acknowledgment of receipt to the centre. They then process or ‘assess’ the application. The assessment includes a three stage process.

• Stage one is the review of the application and associated documentation, which includes checking that the correct forms have been used and correctly completed, and all necessary information and required documents have been included. If information is missing or the unit requires more information, the nominated person is notified. If this happens, it will obviously slow down the process, and potentially delay the reissuing of the licence, so it is in the centre’s best interest to ensure that all paperwork is in order before submitting it.

• The second stage of the assessment is the screening of all people involved in the control and management of the centre, and uses the ‘Working With Children’ screening consent forms sent in with the application.

• Once the ‘formalities’ have been dealt with and the application has been approved, the final stage of the process is a licensing ‘compliance’ visit (see Step 3).

Activity 2


Step 2: Self evaluation of the centre’s complianceWhile this step could be considered optional, I personally can’t think of a single good reason why any centre would want to skip it!

Since the aim of the licensing visit is to ensure that the centre is complying with the regulations before being issued with another licence, it is important to make sure it actually is. While it is hoped that centres are compliant, there could always be that tiny, seemingly unimportant item that has been missed! To help with the self assessment DoCS provides an assessment tool on their website. It is recommended that centres work through this checklist, although it DOES NOT need to be submitted when sending in the relicensing application, and the CSO will not need to look at it on the day of the visit. It is simply a tool designed to assist centres whilst not only working through the process, but to use whilst striving for continuing improvement.

The self assessment is basically a simplified interpretation of the regulations in the form of a checklist, and is therefore quite a simple and comprehensive way for the centre to perform a self evaluation. Having said that, the self assessment tool is not intended as a replacement for the regulations, which should be consulted as necessary to clarify requirements.

Activity 3

Step 3: The licensing visitWhen the licence application has been assessed and approved, the DoCS regional office responsible for your centre is advised, and it’s time for a CSO to visit to conduct a compliance check. This is relatively similar to the accreditation validation visit, in that it is an external evaluation of the centre, and depending upon the size of the centre, will often last for a large part of a day (they have a lot to look at!). Like the accreditation visit, the CSO will advise the centre of the proposed date and time of the visit.

The authorised supervisor will need to be available on the day of the visit and ideally, the licensee, although this isn’t always necessary or practical (depending on the management structure of the centre). Since the date of the visit has already been advised, this is rarely a problem. However if the authorised supervisor knows that he/she has an unbreakable (and genuine) prior commitment on that day, the CSO should be contacted as soon as possible to negotiate a different day. I once heard of a centre that tried to postpone a visit because they wanted to put some finishing touches on some policies, only to find that the CSO insisted on visiting them a week earlier than the original date!

On the day of the visit the CSO will use a checklist to inspect all aspects of the centre relating to the regulations to ‘validate’ the centre’s compliance. A note will


be taken of any aspects in breach of the regulations—even the tiniest details (this isn’t a good day to realise your Syrup of Ipacec in the First Aid cupboard is past its expiry date!).

Aspects of the centre and operations that will be observed and/or inspected include;

• facilities—including adequate spaces and health and safety aspects of the environment

• equipment—including maintenance, serviceability, suitability and safety• the provision of general health and safety requirements for children—

including lighting, heating/cooling, fencing, glass, electrical outlets and balance of indoor/outdoor activities

• staffing—including qualifications, first aid training, rosters and staff:child ratios

• operational matters—including group sizes, number of children, programs and interactions

• health and hygiene matters—including nutrition, food handling, medications and dangerous chemicals

• child records—including enrolment forms, developmental records, attendance and access

• excursions—including authorisation, permission forms, transport arrangements and hazards

• emergency policies and procedures• management records—including systems, processes and policies.

As you can see, it’s quite a long list! For more details refer back to the Self Evaluation Report you looked at in Activity 3.

As well as observing, inspecting and examining written documents, the CSO will also want to talk to the authorised supervisor and quite likely the staff. They may be asked questions about policies and procedures or any aspects as listed in the Self Evaluation Report.

At the conclusion of the visit, the CSO will discuss his/her findings with the authorised supervisor, and since this is the final stage of centre involvement in the process, you will find out immediately if you have been assessed as compliant in all aspects (of course if you have been found non-compliant for anything, your involvement will continue until the matter is rectified!). It is at this time that the CSO will tell you about any issues, both major and minor, and quite likely give suggestions on how to rectify problems or make changes in order to become compliant.

If you find that you don’t really understand something when discussing aspects of non-compliance with the CSO, ask for clarification. Remember that the role of the CSO is not only to check for compliance, but to provide advice and support. If you pretend you know what they’re talking about but don’t actually have a clue, this


will only mean more trouble for you down the track when they see that you haven’t rectified the issue/s.

What happens if a centre isn’t meeting licensing standards?If a centre is found to be in breach of any part of the regulations during the assessment for a further licence or licensing inspection, they will receive a Notice of intention to refuse to grant a licence. If breaches were identified during the inspection visit, the notice outlines the Clause/s of the regulations that are being breached with specific examples of what was observed (or maybe not observed or available) by the CSO, that led to the decision. The centre then has 28 calendar days in which to rectify the problem/s and make a written submission back to DoCS describing the steps that have been taken to demonstrate compliance. The CSO may then have to return to the centre to validate that the centre is in fact now compliant. In cases such as missing documentation or policies, it is often sufficient to fax or email the required information to the DoCS CSO for the final ‘sign-off’.

If the centre does not rectify any problems and/or does not respond within the 28 days, DoCS will issue a Notice of refusal to grant a licence.

There is currently a huge change taking place in how centres are monitored for compliance, with the most significant change being the introduction of the Strategic Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement Framework. This framework aims at encouraging centres to improve the quality of the service being offered beyond the regulatory minimum standards. Under this framework there is more focus on monitoring centres and enforcing compliance. Legislation provides a limited range of penalties when centres fail to comply, but as this initiative develops, it can be expected that this situation may change. Current penalties for non-compliance include;

• Prosecution (the maximum penalty for non-compliance is $22,000)• Centre licence being revoked, varied or suspended• Imposing a further condition on a licence• Decreasing the licence period to one year.

These penalties apply not only to major breaches, but to cases where there are a large number of minor breaches, or wilful refusal to rectify a minor breach.

Activity 4

Activity 5


Unannounced visitsAs well as the scheduled licensing visits, CSOs also conduct unannounced visits. As the name implies, these are unannounced spot checks, and are usually carried out once a year. An unannounced visit is similar to the licensing visit, except it is for a much shorter duration, and often the CSO will be focusing on a specific area. Identified breaches are reported as they would be for a scheduled visit, and centres given a period of time as stated in the notification in which to rectify the problems.


Topic review

Go through this summary of key points to check your understanding;

Do you have an understanding of the main Acts pertaining to Children’s Services?

Do you have an understanding of the QIAS process and its requirements?

Do you have an understanding of the regulations and licensing process and its requirements?

If you cannot answer these questions you can:

• Go over this unit again.• Talk to your teacher about these questions.• Discuss some of these ideas with an experienced child care worker.


Appendix 1

Websites for Children’s Services / Child Care Regulations for Australian states and territoriesNSW: Department of Community Services (DoCS) Children’s Services Directorate: www.community.nsw.gov.au

Victoria: Department of Education and Early Childhood Development: www.education.vic.gov.au

South Australia: Department of Education and Children’s Services (DECS): www.decs.sa.gov.au

Western Australia: Department for Communities, Childcare Licensing and Standards Unit: www.childcare.wa.gov.au

Northern Territory: Department of Education and Training, Early Childhood Services Division, Children’s Services: www.det.nt.gov.au

Queensland: Department of Communities, Office for Early Childhood Education and Care Regulation Services Unit: www.communities.qld.gov.au

ACT: Department of Disability, Housing and Community Services, Office for Children, Youth and Family Support Children’s Policy and Regulation Unit: www.dhcs.act.gov.au

Tasmania: Department of Education, Child Care Unit: www.childcare.tas.gov.au

Appendix 2

Common acronyms in children’s services


http://www.childcare.tas.gov.au/

http://www.det.nt.gov.au/

http://www.childcare.wa.gov.au/

http://www.decs.sa.gov.au/

http://www.education.vic.gov.au/

http://www.community.nsw.gov.au/

ABN Australian Business Number

CSO Children’s Services Officer (formerly Children’s Services Adviser—CSA)

CCB Child Care Benefit

CCQA Child Care Quality Assurance

DoCS Department of Community Services (NSW)

FaCS Family and Community Services

FDCQA Family Day Care Quality Assurance

NCAC National Childcare Accreditation Council

OSHCQA Outside School Hours Care Quality Assurance

QA Quality Assurance

QIAS Quality Improvement & Accreditation System
