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Are you qualified to work in a service? Our qualifications checker allows you to check whether your qualifications are recognised under the NQF and if you are qualified to work…

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Requirements for diploma and certificate III level program assessments

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Requirements for diploma and certificate III level program assessments

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Geccko is designed to help you comply with your obligations under  Family Assistance Law. Family Assistance Law sets the rules for administering Child Care Subsidy.

On Geccko, you can:

complete self-paced e-learning courses

download course certificates upon completion

access other resources such as videos and tip sheets.

The courses are suitable for all staff across all  approved care types.
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Available courses

The following courses are currently available:

Overview of Family Assistance Law and National Law

Fit and proper person requirements

Persons with management or control

Family Assistance Law notification requirements

Understanding enrolments

Reporting sessions of care

Fraud awareness

Electronic payment of gap fees

Accurate fee reporting.

More Information

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Get early childhood compliance knowledge online, or Geccko, is our online learning platform for the early childhood education and care sector.

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Qualifications for centre-based services with children preschool age or under

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Qualifications for centre-based services with children preschool age or under

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The National Quality Framework (NQF) sets out the minimum educator qualification requirements for working with children preschool age and under in centre-based services.

Centre-based services refers to long day care, as well as preschools and kindergartens in most states and territories. These services must meet the following educator qualification requirements:

At least 50% of educators must be diploma level qualified or higher

Under regulation 126 of the Education and Care Services National Regulations, 50% of educators required to meet the relevant educator to child ratios in centre-based services with children preschool age and under, must have, or be actively working towards, an approved diploma level education and care qualification (or higher).

Under the NQF, a person is considered a diploma qualified educator if they:

hold an approved diploma level qualification, OR

hold a former approved diploma level qualification completed before 1 January 2012 OR

hold a qualification that ACECQA has assessed as equivalent to an approved diploma level educator qualification.

If an individual is 'actively working towards' an approved diploma level qualification, they may be counted as a diploma level educator, if they meet the requirements under the 'actively working towards' provisions. For more information visit ACECQA's actively working towards web page.

The roles and responsibilities of a diploma level educator may include, but are not limited to:

supporting and leading children's learning and development

designing, planning, implementing and evaluating educational programs and practices, including following and implementing an approved learning framework

working with community members and external agencies

complying with, and supporting other educators to comply with, service policies and legislation.

The Education and Care Services National Regulations do not specify what roles or responsibilities a diploma level educator must undertake. This is up to the approved provider of each education and care service.

All other educators must be certificate III level qualified

All other educators required to meet the relevant educator to child ratios at the service must hold, or be actively working towards at least an approved certificate III level education and care qualification.

Under the NQF, a person is considered a certificate III level educator if they:

hold an approved certificate III qualification, OR

hold a former approved certificate III level qualification completed before 1 January 2012, OR

hold a qualification that ACECQA has assessed as equivalent to an approved certificate III level educator qualification.

If an individual is 'actively working towards' an approved certificate III level qualification, they may be counted as a certificate III level educator, if they meet the requirements under the 'actively working towards' provisions. For more information visit ACECQA's 'actively working towards' web page.

The roles and responsibilities of a certificate III level educator may include, but are not limited to:

supporting children's learning and development, including contributing to the educational program and practice

assisting the delivery of an approved learning framework

developing positive relationships with children and families

supporting the daily routines of children

complying with service policies and legislation.

The Education and Care Services National Regulations do not specify what roles or responsibilities a certificate III level educator must undertake. This is up to the approved provider of each education and care service.

Access to an Early childhood teacher (ECT)

Services must engage or have access to an early childhood teacher (ECT) based on the number of children in attendance at the service. Please refer to the Summary of the ECT requirements for centre-based services table below*.

An individual can be counted as an ECT if they:

hold an approved early childhood teaching qualification, OR

hold a former approved early childhood teaching qualification that commenced before 1 January 2012, OR

hold a qualification that ACECQA has determined to be an equivalent early childhood teacher qualification, OR

hold a qualification that ACECQA has assessed as equivalent to an approved early childhood teaching qualification.

If an individual is 'actively working towards' an approved ECT level qualification, they may be counted as an ECT, if they meet the requirements under the 'taken to be an early childhood teacher' provisions in regulation 242. However, regulation 242 does not apply in all states and territories. For more information visit our actively working towards web page.

For NSW state specific provisions in relation to ECT requirements please see regulation 272.

Teacher registration is not a requirement for ECTs under the NQF, but is a requirement under some state and territory legislation. For more info visit ACECQA's teacher registration and accreditation web page.

The roles and responsibilities of an ECT may include but are not limited to:

designing, planning, implementing and evaluating educational programs and practices, including following and implementing an approved learning framework

leading and supporting the wellbeing, learning and development of children

providing pedagogical leadership

coaching, mentoring and supervising staff

building and maintaining strong relationships with children and their families

complying with, and supporting other educators to comply with, service policies and legislation

working with community members and external agencies.

The Education and Care Services National Regulations do not specify what roles or responsibilities an ECT must undertake. This is up to the approved provider of each education and care service.

* Saving provisions apply In NSW - see regulation 272.

Approved providers of long day care services and preschools/kindergartens must have a second ECT or, alternatively, a 'suitably qualified person' when 60 or more children preschool age or under are being educated and cared for.

A 'suitably qualified person' can be:

An individual who is 'actively working towards' an approved early childhood teaching qualification AND has completed at least 50% of the qualification or holds an approved diploma level qualification

OR

An individual who is registered (accredited in New South Wales) as a primary or secondary school teacher in Australia AND holds an ACECQA approved diploma level qualification (or higher).

Services located in NSW are unaffected by these changes, as additional ECT staffing requirements have been in place for several years under regulation 272.

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Qualifications for centre-based services with children preschool age or under

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The National Quality Framework (NQF) sets out the minimum qualification and educator to child ratio requirements for children's education and care services.

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Applying for a waiver | ACECQA

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Waivers play an important role in helping providers maintain their level of service to families while dealing with special circumstances or unexpected events.

An approved provider may apply to a regulatory authority for a waiver. Applying for a waiver should be a last resort; providers should explore other avenues before making an application.

Types of waivers

There are two types of waivers:

1. Temporary waivers may be granted for up to 12 months.

2. Service waivers may be granted if a provider is unable to meet requirements for an ongoing period. There is no specific expiry date for a service waiver.

Applying for a waiver

Approved providers can submit a waiver application via the NQA IT System.

Your application must include:

reasons you are unable to comply with the requirement(s) of the National Regulations / element(s) of the National Quality Standard (NQS)

details and evidence of attempts to comply

measures being taken to protect the wellbeing of children.

Your application can only be assessed by your regulatory authority if it is complete. Before submitting your application, check that the:

required sections of the application are complete

supporting documentation / evidence is attached

prescribed fees are paid.

The Evidence for Waiver Applications information sheet explains the types of waivers available and evidence that can be submitted with your application.

How your application is processed

Your regulatory authority will review each application on a case-by-case basis.

To issue a waiver, the regulatory authority must be certain that:

genuine steps have been made or are being made to meet the requirements

children's safety, health and well-being is not compromised or at risk

a plan is in place for the service to meet the requirements by the time the waiver is due to expire (in the case of a temporary waiver).

Your regulatory authority has up to 60 days to assess a complete application. Incomplete applications will be returned to approved providers for further information, lengthening the process.

You can check the status of your waiver application through the NQA IT System.

A regulatory authority can revoke a waiver at any time, and an approved provider can apply to have a waiver revoked at any time.

Displaying waivers

If your waiver application is approved, a new service approval which outlines the waiver(s) will be sent to you. The new service approval must be displayed at the entry of the service.

Effect of waivers on quality ratings

A service granted a waiver can still achieve ratings of Meeting National Quality Standard and Exceeding National Quality Standard. This is because the service is taken to comply or not required to comply with the requirements of the National Regulations and elements of the NQS that are covered by the waiver.

More

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Waivers play an important role in helping providers maintain their level of service to families while dealing with special circumstances or unexpected events. An approved provider may apply to a...

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Check your qualification is NQF approved

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Check your qualification is NQF approved

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Check your qualification is NQF approved | ACECQA

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The National Quality Framework (NQF) sets out the minimum qualification requirements for educators working in children's education and care services. There are also some state and territory specific qualification requirements for working with school age children (e.g. in outside school hours care services).

Some states and territories require early childhood teachers (ECTs) to hold teacher registration or accreditation. It is also important to note that individual employers may specify higher qualification requirements (for example, a four year ECT degree) as part of their employment policy.

To see if you are qualified to work in an Australian education and care service with children preschool age and under (e.g. preschool, kindergarten, long day care, family day care or out of school hours care) you can:

1. Use the qualification checker

2. View the list of approved OSHC qualifications

3. Search the NQF approved qualifications list

1. Use the qualification checker

Our qualifications checker allows you to check whether your qualifications are recognised under the NQF and should only take a few minutes to complete. The checker will guide you through a series of questions to confirm if you are a qualified educator. It will also tell you what evidence you can show to demonstrate you are qualified.

There may be a small number of individuals who were previously recognised as qualified educators under former laws whose recognition will not be captured by the checker. If you believe you were previously recognised as a qualified educator and the checker does not confirm this, contact your regulatory authority.

The checker cannot be used to determine your suitability for teacher registration or skilled migration.

2. View the list of approved OSHC qualifications

Out of school hours care (OSHC) is the name commonly given to services that provide education and care to school age children before/after school and during school holidays.

There are no national qualification requirements for educators educating and caring for school age children in OSHC services. State and territory specific qualification requirements apply in Australian Capital Territory, Queensland, South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia and Northern Territory.

The OSHC qualifications list detailing required qualifications in these jurisdictions is available in PDF or Excel format.

If you have enquiries about state or territory specific provisions, contact your regulatory authority.

If you are an educator with a qualification that does not appear on the OSHC qualifications list, you can apply to ACECQA for a school age qualification assessment.

3. Search the NQF approved qualifications list

To work in a family day care or centre based service with children preschool age and under, educators must hold, or in some circumstances be actively working towards an approved qualification.

Search the list of approved and former approved early childhood teaching, diploma and certificate III level qualifications on this page. The list also includes approved first aid, emergency asthma and anaphylaxis qualifications. The list it is easy to use but if you need some guidance read the how to search file.

If you are an educator with a qualification that does not appear on the below list, you can apply to ACECQAfor individual assessment. If you are a provider (e.g. university, VET provider) wanting to add a qualification to the below list, you can apply to ACECQAfor this as well. A list of programs that have been submitted to ACECQA for assessment can be​ found at the Pending program assessment applications page.

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Check your qualification is NQF approved

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The National Quality Framework (NQF) sets out the minimum qualification requirements for educators working in children's education and care services. There are also some state and territory specific qualification requirements for working with school age children (e.g. in outside school hours care services).