Legislation

In Queensland, the legislation that applies to you—either the National Law or the Child Care Act 2002—depends on the type of service you operate.

Most services are governed by the National Law. These include:

• kindergarten
• long day care
• outside school hours care
• family day care
• pre-Prep.

All other services are:

• licensed and/or regulated under the Child Care Act 2002 (e.g. funded limited hours care, occasional care, and stand alone care)

  or

• unregulated (e.g. babysitting and playgroups).

National Law

Nationally approved services are regulated under the National Quality Framework (NQF) which will:

• help improve the quality of education and care
• help improve program delivery in the areas that impact on a child’s learning and development
• assist families to make informed choices about which service is best for their child.

NQF legislation

The NQF is a legislative framework and includes:

• The National Law—Education and Care Services National Law (Queensland) Act 2011 (PDF, 604KB)—which is a state law that establishes the NQF in Queensland. Queensland has adopted the Victorian law which was developed with input from all states and territories. View the Education and Care Services National Law Act 2010 (PDF, 608KB) passed in Victoria.
• The National Regulations—Education and Care Services National Regulations 2011 (PDF, 1.7MB)—which provide detailed requirements for services.

The National Regulations include a National Quality Standard (NQS) for assessing the quality of services such as long day care, family day care, outside school hours care, pre-Prep and kindergarten across Australia.

Read more about the National Law and Regulations including help with implementing specific aspects of the National Regulations.

What this means for Queensland services

1. Quality rating system—all services are assessed and rated against the NQS (and related requirements of the National Law and Regulations) which sets a national benchmark for the quality of children's education and care services. Find out about the NQS assessment and rating process and how to prepare for your assessment and rating visit. A ratings information kit is also available. From 1 May, 2013 all services (including those not yet assessed) must display a notice of rating.
2. More educators to look after children—the NQF is phasing in nationally consistent ratios of educators to children in most service types. The first substantial change for Queensland services will occur in 2016.
3. Improved educator qualification requirements—services including long day care, family day care, kindergarten and pre-Prep must meet new requirements from 2014. Read about staff requirements.
4. Uniform early childhood and school age care learning frameworks—the NQS is linked to 2 national learning frameworks that outline practices to support and promote children's learning.

   There are a number of supporting guidelines for Queensland services including the Queensland Kindergarten Learning Guideline, Foundations for Success and other Queensland Studies Authority-accredited programs.

5. National body—the Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority monitors national consistency and assures quality implementation of the NQF.
6. Each state and territory is a regulatory authority—regulatory authorities have a quality assessment role under the NQF and responsibility for:
   • granting approvals
   • assessing and rating the quality of services
   • monitoring compliance with the legislation.

Need help?

A series of frequently asked questions has been developed.

Resources as well as fact sheets and information sheets providing detailed information about the NQF are also available.

Visit the childcare contacts page for helpful services and hotlines.

Queensland licensed and regulated services

Queensland licensed and regulated services are not captured under the NQF.

Typical licensed services include:

• those primarily providing casual or adhoc care, such as occasional care services
• Commonwealth budget based funding program services that do not receive the Child Care Benefit
• services funded by the Queensland Government to provide limited hours care.

Regulated (but not licensed) services are:

• stand alone care services—up to 6 children in 1 home, of whom no more than 4 are under 12.

The Child Care Act 2002 (Qld) (PDF, 819KB) and Child Care Regulation 2003 (Qld) (PDF, 576KB) apply to these services.

You can read about how the legislation is monitored and enforced.

More information

Helpful resources, forms and letters for Queensland licensed and regulated services are available.

Unregulated services

Certain types of child care are not regulated in Queensland. Generally, this includes, but is not limited to:

• personal arrangements (e.g. care shared by parents, provided by family members, nannies or babysitters)
• care in a child's home
• activity specific classes, coaching or tuition
• disability or early childhood intervention services
• hotel or resort care
• conference, sport facility or shopping centre care
• mobile services
• transition to school programs
• vacation care offered for not more than 4 weeks per year.

Contact your local regional office if you require information on what legislation, if any, applies to the service you provide.