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
Overview of legal and quality assurance requirements
QIAS and accreditation
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Overview of Child Care Quality Assurance
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How does accreditation work?
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The accreditation process
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What happens if a centre doesn’t achieve accreditation?
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Regulations and licensing
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What do regulations cover?
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The licensing process
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What happens if a centre isn’t meeting licensing standards?
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Topic review
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Appendix 1
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Websites for Children’s Services / Child Care Regulations for
Australian states and territories
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Appendix 2
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Common acronyms in children’s services
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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;
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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
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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
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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 operate
We 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:
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Child Protection (Prohibited Employment) Act 1998 No 146
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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:
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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:
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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
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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
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QIAS and accreditation
Overview of Child Care Quality
Assurance
Up 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;
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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!
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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;
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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:
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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
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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!
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The accreditation process
Step 1: Registration
To 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).
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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 improvement
As 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;
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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:
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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:
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Quality Companion: Completing the Self-Study Report, and
QIAS—Factsheet #10; Writing a Continuing Improvement Plan
Step 3: Validation
When the NCAC receives your completed self-study report, within twelve weeks
two things happen;
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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,
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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: Moderation
Following the Validation Visit a moderator independently assesses the centre’s
practises and analyses the available documentation, including;
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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.
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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 decision
While 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.
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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;
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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
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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;
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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 noncompliant has;
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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.
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Spot checks
A 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.
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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;
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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.
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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;
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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;
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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.
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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!
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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
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Step 2: Self evaluation of the centre’s compliance
While 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 visit
When 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
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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
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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
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Unannounced visits
As 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.
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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:
•
•
•
26
Go over this unit again.
Talk to your teacher about these questions.
Discuss some of these ideas with an experienced child care worker.
Diploma of Children’s Services: CHCIC501A: Reader LO 9350
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Appendix 1
Websites for Children’s Services / Child
Care Regulations for Australian states
and territories
NSW: 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
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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
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