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Home > Child care > Child Care Legislation > Qualifications

Qualifications

Centre based services (other than school age care services) | School age care services | Licensed home based care services (family day care)

The Child Care Regulation 2003 contains the specific qualification requirements for carers in licensed centre based (for assistants, group leaders and directors) and home based services (for family day care coordinators). Licensees must ensure that staff engaged to meet the staff: child ratio hold an approved qualification.

All qualified carers in licensed centre based services are required to be adults, unless they are assistants who are 17 years old and studying an appropriate qualification.

Carers in licensed home based care and stand alone care services are not required to hold an appropriate qualification, however, are required to be at least 18 years of age.

Centre based services (other than school age care services)

Staff in centre based services are required to have the following qualifications:

Director

Group leader

Assistant

There is no provision for a certificate of endorsement to be issued under the legislation.

The legislation allows a licensee to engage people without the necessary qualification in certain circumstances:

Director

If a person does not have the relevant qualification for a director they may be engaged as a director provided they have the qualification of a group leader (the prerequisite qualification) and commence studying an appropriate course within 6 months of being engaged in the position. They must complete the qualification within the 'prescribed finishing period'9.

Group leader

A person may be engaged as a group leader if they have the qualifications necessary for an assistant (the prerequisite qualification), and they commence a suitable course within three months of being engaged in the position. They must complete the qualification within the prescribed finishing period.

Assistant

A person may be engaged as an assistant, for the purposes of meeting the qualified staff: child ratio, if they are 18 years old or older and they commence a suitable course within six months of being engaged in the position. They must complete the qualification within the prescribed finishing period.

A person may also be engaged as an assistant if they are 17 years old, provided they are studying an appropriate course (for example, trainees may be engaged as assistants).

Group leaders and directors who hold a Certificate of Endorsement

Will have six months from the date of commencement of the legislation to commence study in an appropriate course, and three years from the date of the new legislation commencing operation to complete the qualification. These persons will not be required to hold any 'prerequisite qualification', and will be permitted to continue working in the position.

Staff who were 45 years or older on the commencement of the 'repealed Act' (for example: the Child Care Act 1991)

Section 193 of the Child Care Act 2002 covers directors, group leaders and assistants who were 45 years or older on the commencement of the repealed Act (that is, on 5 June 1992). It provides that for those people:

    If:

  1. on the day the repealed Act commenced, the person was engaged as a director or assistant director
  2. immediately before the commencement day, the person was engaged as a director, assistant director, group leader or assistant
  3. the person is taken to have the corresponding status to the position mentioned in paragraph (b).

    4. If:

  4. on the day the repealed Act commenced, the person was engaged as a group leader
  5. immediately before the commencement day, the person was engaged as a group leader or assistant
  6. the person is taken to have the corresponding status to the position mentioned in paragraph (b).

    7. If:

  7. on the day the repealed Act commenced, the person was engaged as an assistant
  8. immediately before the commencement day, the person was engaged as an assistant
  9. the person is taken to be a qualified assistant.

This section, however, ceases to apply to the person if, at any time after the commencement day, the person stops being a staff member of a centre based service, even if the person later resumes being a staff member of a centre based service.

Those child care workers that are not employed when the legislation commenced 1 September 2003 are required to meet the same qualification requirements as newly employed staff when they commence/re-commence work in a child care service.

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School age care services

Qualified staff in school age care services may hold a qualification in early childhood studies or in the following related areas of study:

  1. nursing, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, diversional therapy or speech pathology
  2. primary, secondary or special education
  3. human welfare studies and services
  4. behavioural science
  5. sport and recreation.

This is in recognition of the varying nature of these types of services and the value of a multi-disciplined team.

A school age care service is required to have at least one person with a group leader qualification (for example: a diploma or a two year qualification in the broad range of educational fields). At least one carer for every 30 children is required to be qualified, but that qualification need only be to the Certificate III level, and once again, in the broad range of educational fields.

School age care services have five years from the commencement of the legislation (1September 2003) before staff are required to possess a qualification. Once this five year period has finished, people without a qualification may be engaged in a school age care service for the purposes of meeting the qualified staff: child ratio, provided they commence a relevant course within six months and complete the course within the prescribed finishing period. No prerequisite qualification is required.

Licensed home based care services (family day care)

Coordinators in licensed home based care services may have a range of qualifications11 provided that if the service requires more than 35 coordinator hours to be completed then at least one hour must be completed by a qualified coordinator with an early childhood qualification.

A coordinator in a home based service who on the day the Child Care Act 1991 commenced (for example: 5 June 1992) was a person engaged as a coordinator under that Act is taken to be a qualified coordinator. This provision stops applying if any time after the commencement of the Child Care Act 2002 (for example: 1 September 2003) they stop carrying out the functions of a co-ordinator of a home based service, even if the person later resumes this position (section 194 of the Act).

Care providers in licensed home based care or stand alone care services are not required to have a qualification.

  1. The 'prescribed finishing period' means the period that is twice as long as the period in which the course would be completed by a person undertaking the course by full-time study.
  2. ie. nursing, physiotherapy, diversional therapy, speech pathology, primary, secondary or special education, human welfare studies, behavioural science, sport and recreation.
  3. as for 10

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Last updated: 23 June 2008.