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Providing early childhood education and care under the State Act
Early childhood education and care services that do not fall under the Education and Care Services National Law (South Australia) Act 2010 (National Law SA) and the National Quality Framework are regulated under the Education and Early Childhood Services (Registration and Standards) Act 2011 (SA) (State Act).
Provider and service approval must be in place before a person or legal entity begins to operate a residual service.
Application: Provider approval for 'residual' services
Application: Service approval for 'residual' services
Our Compliance and enforcement policy outlines the Education Standards Board (Board) approach to regulating residual services.
Residual services are regulated through a modified use of the National Law and through service-specific regulations and standards. The modifications and exclusions of the National Law relating to residual early childhood services are listed in Schedule 2 of the Act.
Residual service types
The different types of residual services and their requirements are detailed below.
In-home care services
In-home care is a service where children are cared for in their own homes in the absence of their parents (e.g. a babysitting or nanny service). This also includes a service that introduces parents to a person who will care for the children in the parents’ home.
However, it does not include a website, or similar, allowing carers to advertise their services independently through social media. This is not what is meant by ‘providing care’. Nor is it ‘introducing’ parents to people who could care for their children.
For a legislative definition of in-home care services, see the Education and Early Childhood Services (Registration and Standards) Regulations 2011 (SA).
The Education Standards Board has developed the South Australian standards for in-home care services.
These standards were developed in consultation with in-home care providers. They form a set of operational requirements that an approved provider of an in-home care service must comply with as a condition of their service approval.
Occasional care services
Occasional care is a service that provides care for four or more children in a place other than a child’s home on an occasional basis (not all-day care) without their parent or guardian on site. These services are often attached to kindergartens. For a legislative definition, see the Education and Early Childhood Services (Registration and Standards) Regulations 2011 (SA).
Record-keeping requirements
The Education Standards Board has developed a document that details the record-keeping requirements for occasional care and mobile care services. It outlines key requirements relating to the:
- documents that must be kept
- the availability of documents
- accuracy of documents
- confidentiality of documents
- storage of documents.
These record-keeping requirements are mandatory, and a breach of the requirements is an offence under the National Law. The prescribed documents must be made available for inspection by one of our regulatory officers.
Record-keeping requirements for occasional care and mobile care services
Is it occasional care?
We’ve developed a decision-making flow chart to assist the early childhood services sector to define an occasional care service in South Australia. The flow chart will enable prospective providers to determine if the service they intend to provide is an occasional care service.
Occasional care service regulation flow chart
The flow chart has been developed as guidance only. Please seek further advice if necessary and/or refer to the legislation:
- Education and Early Childhood Services (Registration and Standards) Act 2011 (SA), incorporating the Education and Care Services National Law (South Australia)
- Education and Care Services National Regulations 2011
Rural and mobile care services
Rural care is a service caring for seven children or fewer in a rural community. Mobile care is a service providing care to children younger than school age at multiple locations, which transports its equipment and materials to those locations. For a legislative definition, see the Education and Early Childhood Services (Registration and Standards) Regulations 2011 (SA).
Record-keeping requirements for mobile care services
The Education Standards Board has developed a document that details the record-keeping requirements for occasional and mobile care services. It outlines key requirements relating to the:
- documents that must be kept
- the availability of documents
- accuracy of documents
- confidentiality of documents
- storage of documents.
These record-keeping requirements are mandatory, and a breach of the requirements is an offence under the National Law. The prescribed documents must be made available for inspection by one of our regulatory officers.
Record-keeping requirements for occasional care and mobile care services
Family day care (sole-educator) services, outside the National Law
Family day care (sole educator) is a service (not included in the National Law) delivered by one educator who cares for children in the educator’s home. For a legislative definition, see the Education and Early Childhood Services (Registration and Standards) Regulations 2011 (SA).
The Education Standards Board has developed the South Australian standards for family day-care services (for sole-educator services).
The standards set operational requirements for sole-educator family day care services. They will be applied as a condition on sole-educator family day care service approval.
Exemptions for residual services
The operational requirements in Chapter 4 of the National Regulations (relating to issues such as the health and safety of children, staffing ratios and keeping records) apply to occasional and mobile care services. We are aware that some of these requirements are difficult for residual early childhood services to meet.
For example, the staffing arrangements in Chapter 4 require services to employ or engage an early childhood teacher for a percentage of the time that the service operates, lists minimum general educator qualifications and prescribes educator-to-child ratios. The following information provides supporting information about staffing requirements.
Staffing for residual early childhood services
The Education Standards Board has delegation from the Minister of Education to exempt residual services, or types of services, from certain provisions of the requirements in the National Law and Regulations. (This relates to Section 20 (1) of the Act.)
We have an exemption form that details the regulations available for exemption. Please note:
- An exemption form must be completed for each individual approved service as it relates to the circumstances at those particular premises.
- Exemptions are temporary, and services are advised to continue to work towards meeting the requirements of the legislation.
- An exemption will be granted for a maximum of two years and may be extended for a further two years, depending on the circumstances.