NSW DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY SERVICES
PROPOSAL FOR A REGULATORY SCHEME FOR
CHILD MINDING SERVICES IN RETAIL SHOPPING CENTRES
1. INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this paper is to provide information and seek comment on a
proposal to introduce a regulation that would allow for the provision of short
term child minding services in retail shopping centres. The regulation would
aim to ensure the health, safety and wellbeing of children at those services,
but without requiring those services to meet the full range of standards
applicable to traditional licensed children’s service types such as long day
care, preschool and occasional care.
Casual, short term child minding in retail shopping centres is an emerging
type of service for parents. Typically, children are left with carers for short
periods while parents remain nearby and contactable, while they are
shopping, or involved in some other activity provided by the shopping centre.
Demand for this type of service is expected to come from some parents and
from potential commercial providers who seek to meet this need in a retail
shopping centre context.
The regulatory framework for children’s services in NSW has the primary
objectives of:
 ensuring the safety, welfare and well-being of children,
 promoting standards for those services, and
 ensuring, as far as practical, that people working in children’s services
are suitable for such work.
The current regulation requires licensing of traditional children’s service types,
such as long day care and preschools and recognises that children may
spend extended periods in care. Licensing obligations deal with requirements
relating to the service’s capacity to provide care, education, protection and
high quality programs that promote children’s overall development (eg
physical environment, staffing ratios and qualifications).
However, from time to time new forms of care emerge and the issue to be
addressed in these cases is whether a traditional licensing system or some
other form of regulation is most efficient and effective. This question has
arisen in relation to less formal “drop-in” child care facilities that enable
parents to leave their children in a safe environment for short periods while
they undertake activities nearby such as shopping or business appointments.
Licensing for these services would be expensive to administer and impose
substantial costs on the service providers.
The proposal in this paper involves introduction of an alternative to licensing a performance based regulation scheme that would require registration of
these types of services, requirements to comply with a fixed set of standards
that are protective of children using the service, and a compliance regime.
The intention is to establish and enforce minimum conditions and standards
which ensure that operators are suitable for providing the service and that
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they meet basic health and safety needs of children so that children’s health,
safety and wellbeing is assured.
2. THE DETAILS OF THE PROPOSAL
It is proposed to enable the provision of casual, short term child minding
services in retail shopping centres without requiring operators to be licensed
under the Children and Young Persons (Care and Protection) Act 1998 and
the Children’s Services Regulation 2004, but such services would need to be
registered with the Department of Community Services and would be required
to maintain minimum standards for the provision of those services.
The proposal would require amendments to the Children’s Services
Regulation to include a new schedule of standards to apply to those services
that meet a definition of child minding service in a retail shopping centre.
Objectives of the proposal
A primary aim of the proposal is to enable the development of safe and
healthy child care services in which parents can place their children for short
periods so that they can they participate in shopping and associated
recreational or business services within a shopping centre.
The proposed scheme is designed so that:
 Service providers can set up services with certainty about the rules and
obligations to keep children safe and well but without the administrative
burden and cost of licensing,
 The Department of Community Services can focus its effort on
inspections and enforcement of these services to ensure that they are
meeting the standards rather than administrative tasks associated with
processing and renewing licences, and
 The regulation manages the risks in an effective way.
The scheme clearly differentiates between child minding in shopping centre
services and licensed occasional child care services. While both service types
provide short term child care, the differences will be:
 Child minding in shopping centres will be constrained by standards
which strictly limit service provision to up to three hours only and will
require parents to remain in the vicinity of the service.
 Licensed occasional care services will continue to be able to offer longer
hours and on a regular basis. For example, occasional care services
may be used to provide regular care, say one day per week for a
specified period while a child’s special needs are assessed or to
supplement an existing child care arrangement. This will not be possible
in a child minding service in a shopping centre.
 According to current guidelines issued by the Commonwealth
Department of Family and Community Services, a child minding in
shopping centre service would not meet the criteria for approved child
care for the purpose of access to Child Care Benefit subsidies.
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Scope of the proposed regulation
The service type will be defined as “a child minding service in a retail
shopping centre for the purpose of minding for short periods and on an
irregular basis the children of persons who are shoppers or users of other
facilities in the centre.”
A retail shopping centre is defined in the Retail Tenancies Act 1994 as a
cluster of premises that has all of the following attributes:
(a) at least 5 of the premises are used wholly or predominantly for the
carrying on of one or more of the businesses specified in Schedule 1
(the Schedule lists a variety of shopping services including
supermarkets, discount shops, newsagents),
(b) the premises are all owned by the same person, or have (or would if
leased have) the same lessor or the same head lessor, or comprise lots
within a single strata plan under the Strata Schemes (Freehold
Development) Act 1973 or the Strata Schemes (Leasehold
Development) Act 1986,
(c) the premises are located in the one building or in 2 or more buildings
that are either adjoining or separated only by common areas or other
areas owned by the owner of the retail shops,
(d) the cluster of premises is promoted as, or generally regarded as
constituting, a shopping centre, shopping mall, shopping court or
shopping arcade.
Key features of the regulatory scheme
The elements of the processes and obligations that would apply under the
proposed scheme are as follows:
 Any person seeking to register a short-term child minding service in a
retail shopping centre must apply to DoCS for permission to do so, and a
fee will apply.
 DoCS will require certain information about the management and
proposed staff of the service, and undertakings from the proponent that
the service will comply with the minimum Standards that will be set out in
the Children’s Services Regulation (see below).
 Service proponents and staff would be subject to existing requirements
for criminal record checking and other child protection related
safeguards, such as mandatory reporting, that exist outside the
children’s services framework.
 DoCS would provide written permission to the proponent (a Certificate of
Registration) setting out the conditions of registration and required
standards, to be displayed at the service.
 DoCS will maintain a register of approved short term child minding
services in retail shopping centres.
 The registration will not be time-limited, but it will be personal to the
proponent and not transferable.
 The operator of the service will be required to certify compliance with the
Standards on an annual basis. This may take the form of a renewal of
registration.
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 The operator of the service will be required to advise DoCS of any
changes to the personnel, premises or operating parameters of the
service or if they are intending to dispose of the business.
 DoCS will monitor compliance with the standards from time to time.
Compliance audits will be conducted and breaches of the standards will
be prosecuted. Penalties for non-compliance will be established.
 DoCS will maintain a system whereby complaints about services can be
tracked and responded to.
 Authorised officers of DoCS may enter the service at any time and view
the operations and records of the service. It will be the responsibility of
the operator to demonstrate that standards are being met (including for
example through records and policies available for inspection).
Minimum Service Standards
A list of draft standards is attached to this proposal. They include standards
relating to the staff and management; operational matters such as time limits
and policies; and facilities and equipment.
TO PROVIDE COMMENT
The Department invites comments and feedback on all aspects of the draft
standards as well as the broader proposal.
Please contact:
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John Mason
Child Protection & Early Intervention Directorate
NSW Department of Community Services
Locked Bag 28
ASHFIELD NSW 1800
E-Mail: john.mason@community.nsw.gov.au
Ph: 02 9716 2137
Fax: 02 9716 2134
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CHILD MINDING SERVICES IN RETAIL SHOPPING CENTRES
DRAFT STANDARDS
1.
STAFF AND MANAGEMENT
1.1
Background Checks
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1.2
The proponent will conduct all required Working With Children Checks under Part
7 of the Commission for Children and Young People Act 1998.
No person may be involved in the provision or management of the service who
has been successfully prosecuted by DoCS for a child care related offence within
the previous five years.
Staff Skills

At least one staff member present at any time to hold a Child Care Certificate or
Diploma as set out in Clause 52(2)(c) of the Children’s Services Regulation 2004
and the majority of the remaining staff to have had child care training or
experience caring for children in a formal child care setting.
 The proponent will be required to ensure staff are aware of their obligations as
mandatory reporters under the Act.
 All staff must have First Aid qualifications.
 Staff members are to be familiar with the evacuation procedures and policies of
the service, and the shopping complex.
 Evacuation procedures to be regularly tested so that staff members are aware of
emergency procedures and prepared for emergencies, and a record of the times
and dates this occurs is to be recorded and available for inspection by DoCS.
1.3 Staff Numbers
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Adequate staff numbers are to be maintained at all times to ensure the safety and
proper supervision of all children in care.
A minimum of two staff must be in the service at all times when there are children
in care
The service must ensure that an appropriate level of adult assistance is available
to guarantee the safe and speedy removal of children in an emergency.
2.0 OPERATIONS
 The service may operate for the hours the retail shopping centre is open.
 The maximum stay of any child is 3 hours on any one day and not on a regular
basis.
 The service must require the parent/carer who drops off the child not to leave the
retail shopping centre while the child is in care.
 The service must ensure that the parent/carer sign each child in and out of the
service. Only the person who drops the child off may pick up the child.
 Enrolment forms are to be completed (or varied if previously registered) for each
child on each visit, detailing the child’s name, address, date of birth, parent and
other emergency contact details, and any relevant medical details (eg allergies,
medical conditions, immunisation). The service must ensure child and
parent/carer details are kept confidential and secure.
 Each child to have identification (eg armband, name tag) affixed on entry,
including parent contact details.
 Policies to be displayed in relation to conditions and policies of the service,
including:
 time limits,
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
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3.1
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parents/carers not to leave the retail shopping centre and be contactable
at all times
 health, safety and infectious diseases
 complaints (including how to complain to DoCS)
 procedures in the event of an emergency and/or evacuation
A summary of policies to be handed to each parent/carer when they leave a child
at the centre.
Service to ensure appropriate arrangements (eg pagers, mobile phones) to be
able to recall parents for emergencies/incidents or as a reminder that a child’s
time in care is nearly over.
FACILITIES AND EQUIPMENT TO MINIMISE RISK TO CHILDREN
ATTENDING CHILD MINDING SERVICES
Child safety in relation to security, and to reduce the risk of injury
Entry and exit points at the service must be secured. Child safety gates that
open outwards, to be installed at the service’s entry and exit points to ensure that
children cannot enter or exit the service unaccompanied and so that children are
not crushed by gates when opened.
Equipment and activities to be organised to meet the physical and developmental
capacity of each age group to minimise risk of disruptive and potentially harmful
behaviour.
Physical barriers to be established to separate different age groups of children at
the service to ensure that younger children are not injured through the actions of
older children. For this purpose, children are to be divided into infants, pre-school
and school-aged children.
Play equipment (eg climbing frames) and surfacing to meet the Australian
Standards, and be maintained in a safe condition.
All poisons including medication to be stored in a cabinet that is to be kept locked
at all times so that children do not have unauthorised access to medication.
3.2 Fire and emergency equipment and procedures in relation to emergency
events and evacuations

Fire extinguishers, smoke detectors and fire blankets should be available and
maintained as per AS 1851.1 (Australian Standard, 1995, Maintenance of fire
protection equipment, Part 1: Portable fire extinguishers and fire blankets).
 Evacuation procedures should be prominently displayed in child minding services
so that they are an easy reference for staff members and parents. Staff members
need to be prepared for emergencies as children will not be familiar with these
procedures due to the irregular nature of this type of care.
 Equipment such as baby pouches should be kept in an accessible place at all
times and should be used during evacuation drills to ensure that infants are
evacuated in a timely manner in the event of an emergency.
3.3 Child health in relation to health, hygiene, and to minimise the risk of
disease
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A minimum of 3.25m² metres of unencumbered floor space per child to ensure
that children have adequate personal space and to ensure adequate health,
hygiene and to minimise the transmission of disease.
Toilets and sanitary facilities to be provided to meet the requirements of Clause
F2.3 as stated in the Building Code of Australia.
Access to staff toilets to be sufficient to ensure that adequate supervision can be
maintained at all times.
If the service offers care for infants wearing nappies, at least 1 stable nappy
change facility including adult hand washing facility must be available to reduce
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risk of injury to children or staff during nappy change; to maintain hygiene and to
reduce the risk of cross infection. Nappies should also be disposed in a way that
minimises the spread of infectious diseases.
Bathing facility to clean/bath children in the event of soiling/vomiting accidents to
maintain hygiene and prevent the spread of infectious diseases.
Safe sleeping arrangements to be available for children who need to sleep and
are too old for prams/strollers.
Drinking water to be available and supplied to all children on request to ensure
children are adequately hydrated during play.
Facilities to be provided for hygienic storage and service of food to prevent
spoilage so that parents may supply snacks or baby bottles for children.
All facilities and equipment to be maintained in a clean and hygienic condition to
minimise the overall health risks to children.
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