The department is responsible for monitoring early childhood education and care services captured under the
National Law.
Monitoring visits
Authorised officers from the Early Childhood Regulatory Authority (Regulatory Authority) regularly visit services to assess their compliance with regulatory requirements. The objectives of a monitoring visit are to:
- determine whether an approved provider is complying with their legislative requirements
- provide an opportunity for guidance and advice to be given to an approved provider to support compliance and promote continuous quality improvement.
Visits may be announced or unannounced and may consider a range of compliance requirements or target a particular area of concern or risk.
Read about the Regulatory Authority's monitoring processes in the
regulating for quality: monitoring compliance of early childhood services procedure.
Compliance
Regulatory action may be taken against individuals and services that are not compliant with the Education and Care Services National Law (National Law) or Education and Care Services National Regulations (National Regulations).
Regulatory responses to non-compliance directly relate to the level of risk to children’s health, safety and wellbeing, and range from verbal advice and guidance to suspending or closing a service, prosecuting an approved provider, or prohibiting a person from providing education and care or performing a specific role in a service. Read more about enforcement actions the Regulatory Authority make take.
Services may also be advised that they have been placed on a monitoring plan. A monitoring plan involves structured, regular visits which focus on areas of concern or risk identified through the service's compliance history. Services seeking further information regarding their monitoring plan can
contact their local regional office.
Approved provider responsibilities
Approved providers of education and care services are ultimately responsible for ensuring compliance with the National Law and National Regulations. However, specific non-compliance may be alleged on the part of approved providers, nominated supervisors and/or educators, all of whom may hold obligations under the legislation.
All people involved in the education and care of children must understand and comply with the legislation in order to keep children safe and healthy in education and care.
Employing suitable staff
Approved providers should have processes in place to ensure staff are suitable to provide education and care at recruitment or at any stage of employment.
This includes ensuring Individuals working in education and care services where children are present hold a blue card and are not prohibited people. Read more about prohibition and other enforcement actions.
Check a person's blue card status at any time
The Regulatory Authority is required under the National Law to notify
Blue Card Services when they issue someone with a prohibition notice. This notification may result in a review of the persons eligibility to hold a positive notice blue card.
Approved providers can use the
Blue Card Services Organisation Portal External link to check that a staff member or volunteer continues to hold a positive notice blue card or exemption card. Approved providers must ensure that employees are linked to them as the employer in the blue card system—no card, no link, no start.
Check a person's prohibition status at any time
It is an offence for approved providers to employ or continue to employ a prohibited person. This includes engaging people as educators, family day care educators, employees, contractors, staff members and volunteers.
Approved providers should check a person's prohibition status prior to employing them (National Law section 188) by doing the following:
- Log on to the
National Quality Agenda IT System portal, find the register of prohibited persons and suspended educators and do a name search of the current or potential staff member (approved providers of National Law services only).
- Contact the Regulatory Authority on
regulation@qed.qld.gov.au if the person is on the register to confirm the information.
- Keep the information as a record of due diligence to show the Regulatory Authority if asked.
It is also good practice to:
- ask the prospective staff member or volunteer if they are prohibited from providing education and care or aware of any enforcement action the Regulatory Authority may have taken against them
- ask for a signed declaration confirming their prohibition status. Download a prohibition notice declaration for prospective staff members template from the
Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority’s (ACECQA) website.
Tip: Use blue card status as an additional way of determining staff suitability and always confirm a person’s prohibition status separately.
Keeping a compliance record
All education and care services approved under the National Law are required to keep a record of their compliance.
This record must contain details of any:
- compliance direction or compliance notice issued to the approved provider of the service
- suspension of service approval (other than by voluntary application)
- amendment to service approval made by the department.
Read more about the requirements in
National Regulation 167.
Families can ask to view a service’s compliance record at any time.
The record must be:
- made available to any person upon request
- kept at the premises of the education and care service (other than a family day care)
- kept in an office for the family day care service.
Certain types of serious enforcement action, such as prosecutions and suspensions, are available on the register of published enforcement action page.
Information is published to ensure parents and carers, the community and the early childhood sector can access information about individuals and organisations that have presented a risk to children’s safety, health and wellbeing when providing education and care.
Read more about the enforcement actions the Regulatory Authority may take.
Help and support
Read more about
Regulatory Authority powers and monitoring in the Guide to the National Quality Framework.
For assistance with compliance and enforcement actions, please contact your
regional office.
Access the latest data on compliance and enforcement activities.