Child care ratios and qualifications for child care

Blog Image for article Child care ratios and qualifications for child care

You want to know that your child is receiving the best possible care and attention while at their child care service, and in support of this, educator to child ratios are in place to ensure that there are enough educators working directly with children at each service.

Under The National Quality Framework, there are ratio requirements for specific service types and age brackets, and the government explains that these, 'Set ratios are based on evidence about how quality education and care benefits children.'

Educators have to be working directly with children to be counted in the educator to child ratio (not sitting around the corner eating lunch), and children must be adequately supervised at all times.

In centre-based services, like long day care, ratios are calculated across the whole service (not room by room), and ACECQA explains that, ‘An educator who is caring for one age range of children can also be counted against another age range of children, as long as the ratio for each age range is maintained and adequate supervision is maintained at all times.’

The Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority's Educator to Child Ratio Calculator helps centre-based services work out the minimum number of educators they need for the children they're looking after.

Educator to child ratios around Australia

Each state and territory has its own ratio requirements, and child care ratios around the nation are detailed in the following table:

States/Territories Service Type Educator to Child Ratios
Children from birth to 24 months
All States and Territories Child care centre 1 educator to 4 children
Children aged 24 to 36 months
ACT Child care centre 1 educator to 5 children
NSW Child care centre 1 educator to 5 children
NT Child care centre 1 educator to 5 children
SA Child care centre 1 educator to 5 children
QLD Child care centre 1 educator to 5 children
TAS Child care centre 1 educator to 5 children
VIC Child care centre 1 educator to 4 children
WA Child care centre 1 educator to 5 children
Children aged 36 months and older
ACT Child care centre/preschool 1 educator to 11 children
NSW Child care centre/preschool 1 educator to 10 children
NT Child care centre/preschool 1 educator to 11 children
QLD Child care centre/preschool 1 educator to 11 children
SA Child care centre
Disadvantaged preschool
Preschool
1 educator to 10 children
1 educator to 10 children
1 educator to 11 children
TAS Child care centre
Preschool
1 educator to 10 children
2 educators to 25 children
VIC Child care centre/preschool 1 educator to 11 children
WA Child care centre/preschool 1 educator to 10 children
Children over preschool age
ACT Outside school hours and vacation care 1 educator to 11 children
NSW Outside school hours and vacation care 1 educator to 15 children
NT Outside school hours and vacation care 1 educator to 15 children
QLD Outside school hours and vacation care 1 educator to 15 children
SA Outside school hours and vacation care 1 educator to 15 children
TAS Outside school hours and vacation care 1 educator to 15 children
VIC Outside school hours and vacation care 1 educator to 15 children
WA Outside school hours and vacation care 1 educator to 13 children or 1 educator to 10 children if kindergarten children in attendance
Children aged birth to 13 years
All States and Territories Family day care 1 educator to 7 children with no more than 4 children pre school age or younger including educator's own children younger than 13 years of age at home with no other aduly to look after them

EARLY CHILDHOOD TEACHER REQUIREMENTS

The number of children attending a centre-based service determines how much time an early childhood teacher (ECT) needs to be available, and since 1 January 2020, there has been an extra staffing requirement for some long day care services, preschools and kindergartens.

Services with 60 or more children in attendance at any one time must enlist the help of a second ECT or ‘suitably qualified person,’ and the ECT requirements for centre-based services are as follows:

If there are less than 25 children: The service must have access to an ECT for at least 20 per cent of the time the service is operating. The ECT can do this by using ‘information communication technology.’

If there are 25 to 59 children: A full-time or full-time equivalent ECT must be employed/engaged by the service, or an ECT must attend the service for:

  • Six hours a day (when the service operates for 50+ hours per week), or
  • Sixty per cent of the time (when the service operates for less than 50 hours a week).

If there are 60 to 80 children: The same requirements as for 25 to 59 children apply and the service must employ a second ECT or ‘suitably qualified person’ to attend for:

  • Three hours a day (when the service operates for 50+ hours per week), or
  • Thirty per cent of the time (when the service operates for less than 50 hours a week).

These requirements don’t apply if the service has 60 to 80 approved places and it employs/engages a full-time or full-time equivalent ECT, plus a second ECT or suitably qualified person for half of the full-time or full-time equivalent hours at the service.

If there are more than 80 children: The same requirements as for 25 to 59 children apply and a second employed ECT or suitably qualified person has to be in attendance for:

  • Six hours a day (when the service operates for 50+ hours per week), or
  • Sixty per cent of the time (when the service operates for less than 50 hours a week).

These requirements don’t apply if the service has over 80 approved places and it employs/engages a full-time or full-time equivalent ECT, plus a second full-time or full-time equivalent ECT or suitably qualified person.

Things are different in NSW, because of reg 272 of the National Regulations. Click here for the detail.

Further information about the educator to child ratios, qualification requirements for educators and the National Quality Framework can be found on the ACECQA website.

 

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