Changes to national regulations now in effect
Amendments to the National Regulations, which the Government says should reduce red tape and streamline administrative processes for early childhood education and care providers took effect on 1 June (except WA).
The main amendments include:
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Streamlining the supervisor certificate application process (except Western Australia which will make changes regarding supervisor certificates at a later date).
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Greater flexibility for centre-based services to meet staffing requirements when employing new educators. New South Wales and South Australia are retaining current requirements for certificate III educators in centre-based services.
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Extending the timeframe for a person who is actively working towards an approved early childhood teaching qualification to be counted towards early childhood teacher requirements.
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A more practical approach to submission of Quality Improvement Plans (QIP) for new services - approved providers must now prepare the QIP for a new service within three months, but are only required to provide a copy to the regulatory authority on request.
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An information sheet outlining the amendments affecting all states and territories is available on the ACECQA website.
State and territory specific amendments
There are also a number of amendments that may only affect your state or territory (ACT, NSW, Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania). More information about these is available on the ACECQA website or from your regulatory authority.
Streamlining the supervisor certificate application process
To streamline the National Quality Framework, ministers responsible for the Education and Care Services National Regulations agreed to change the application process for supervisor certificates to provide further flexibility for services. These changes apply in all states and territories, apart from Western Australia.
Effective 1 June 2014, most individuals no longer need to apply for an individual supervisor certificate.
Instead, regulatory authorities will now issue a service supervisor certificate for each approved service, which can apply to any person working at the service who is identified by the approved provider as:
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responsible for the day to day management of the service, or
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exercising supervisory and leadership responsibilities for part of the service, or
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a family day care coordinator.
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The application process for supervisor certificates in Western Australia will remain unchanged until Western Australia makes changes at a later date.
A detailed information sheet about the changes to the supervisor certificate application process is available on the ACECQA website.
Where to get a copy of the amended regulations
A copy of the National Regulations (except in Western Australia) with the amendments included is available here (enter education and care in the search function). |
