Conditions

State and territory regulatory authorities for children’s education and care services monitor compliance with legislation and approval conditions. The safety, health and wellbeing of children attending early childhood education and care services is their first priority. Regulatory authorities aim to address non-compliance swiftly and ensure that appropriate remediation action is taken.

The majority of early childhood education and care services voluntarily operate in compliance with their regulatory requirements however for a small proportion who do not, the regulatory authority will intervene.

The regulatory authority employs authorised officers to undertake compliance and monitoring – their powers are established in the National Law.

For more information on compliance and monitoring, read the Powers of regulatory authorities section of ACECQA’s Guide to the NQF.

Compliance is monitored through various means that may be proactive or reactive.

A condition is usually an extra requirement added to a service or provider approval that must be met in a certain way. The requirement to publish conditions on the copy of the service approval ensures transparency for families using the service.

The regulatory authority can put a condition on a provider approval or service approval certificate. It can impose a condition when it grants an approval, or at a later time by amending the approval.

The approved provider must comply with the conditions on their provider or service approval.

If they don’t, they can be fined.

Unless the duration is expressly indicated in the condition, it remains in place until removed by the regulatory authority.

Condition on provider approval: addresses issues that affect, or potentially affect, all the provider’s services.

For example, if the regulatory authority has concerns about an applicant’s management capacity, it might impose a condition limiting the number, or size, of services the provider can operate.

Condition on service approval: address issues relevant to the particular service.

For example, a regulatory authority might grant a service approval with a condition limiting the age of children that may attend, pending further information to satisfy the regulatory authority that the service premises are suitable for very young children.

Condition on a nominated supervisor: conditions on the nomination of the person as a nominated supervisor.

For example, limiting a person’s nomination as nominated supervisor to services that primarily educate and care for children over preschool age, if their qualification or experience is specifically related to school age children.

If an approved provider breaches a condition on approval, the regulatory authority may consider taking further compliance action.

The most significant compliance actions are:

• Cancellation of service approval
  This permanently prevents an approved provider from operating a specific education and care service.
• Cancellation of provider approval
  This permanently prevents a person from operating any approved education and care service.