Approved providers must operate their approved services to meet the obligations in the Education and Care Services National Law and Regulations.
Approved providers must exercise effective leadership, governance, and management to meet their legal obligations. Providers must also employ suitably qualified and experienced nominated supervisors, educational leaders, coordinators, and educators.
The National Quality Standard 
and supporting information can be found on the ACECQA website. This includes resources relevant to governance, leadership, staffing arrangements and recruitment.
The National Law obliges approved providers remain fit and proper to conduct education and care services.
Under the National Law any person with management or control (PMC) of a provider must be a fit and proper person to be involved in the provision of an education and care service.
An approved provider has a legal responsibility to ensure the safety, health and wellbeing of children being educated and cared for at their service. Any PMC also has this legal responsibility.
Information about PMCs must be current and updated through the National Quality Agenda IT System .
As part of an application for service approval, approved providers must identify the nominated supervisor for the service. The nominated supervisor must be over 18 years old, have adequate knowledge and understanding of the provision of education and care to children; and have the ability to effectively supervise and manage an education and care service.
All nominated supervisors must give their written consent to the nomination by completing a Nominated Supervisor Consent Form . Nominated supervisor information must be current and updated through the National Quality Agenda IT System .
The NQF sets out the responsibilities for nominated supervisors. For more information read ACECQA’s Nominated Supervisor Factsheet .
The approved provider and/or nominated supervisor needs to designate a responsible person to be placed in day-to-day charge of a service if the approved provider and/or nominated supervisor is not present. The person in day-to-day charge must be over 18 years old, have adequate knowledge and understanding of the provision of education and care to children; and have the ability to effectively supervise and manage an education and care service.
The person nominated to be in day-to-day charge must accept this responsibility in writing. The nominated person must have adequate knowledge and understanding of the provision of education and care to children and be able to effectively manage a service.
A record that demonstrates who is the responsible person in day-to-day charge should be in place. Being in day-to-day charge of a service does not place any additional legal responsibilities on the person under the National Law. The responsibilities relevant to educators under the National Law continue to apply.
An approved provider does not have to appoint a person in day-to-day charge if a nominated supervisor(s) or an approved provider is to be the responsible person in attendance during service operational hours.
The National Law requires approved providers to designate, in writing, a suitably qualified and experienced educator, coordinator or other individual as educational leader.
Educational leaders play a critical role in each education and care setting, by leading the development and implementation of an effective educational program.
ACECQA offers a suite of resources to support educational leaders in their role. These include the Educational Leader Resource , The Role of the Educational Leader Factsheet and the Educational Leader Resource videos .
Approved providers and services have an obligation to notify CECA about incidents, complaints, and changes to information about the approved provider or approved service.
This includes serious incidents, complaints, and circumstances where the health, safety or wellbeing of children may have been put at risk. Details of notification types and timeframes can be found on the ACECQA website.
Notifications and changes to information must be made within the required timeframes using the National Quality Agenda IT System .
Comprehensive information about the National Quality Agenda IT System can be found on the ACECQA website, this includes user guidelines and resources .
The ACT’s child protection legislation also requires approved providers, educators and other education and care service staff to report on incidents or suspected incidents involving children.
Approved providers must ensure a Quality Improvement Plan (QIP) is in place for each service.
The QIP is for providers and services to self-assess their performance in delivering quality education and care and to improve that performance. The QIP should reflect the unique context of a service and be communicated in a way that is meaningful.
A QIP must demonstrate:
- an assessment of the programs and practices at the service against the National Quality Standard and National Regulations
- identify areas for improvement
- a statement about the service’s philosophy
The QIP does not have to be provided in any specific format. An optional template from the ACECQA website can be downloaded for use.
The QIP can prioritise areas for improvement against the 7 quality areas of the NQS and the related regulatory requirements. There is no requirement that all 15 standards and 40 elements are addressed in the QIP.
The QIP should include key areas for improvement. The Self-assessment Tool from the ACECQA website is an optional tool suitable for all service types and can be adapted to meet the needs of the service context.
All new services are required to submit their QIP after 3 months of operation. CECA will contact the service directly with this request.
A QIP must be updated at least once a year and be available on request by CECA or families enrolling their child into the service.
Free developing a QIP interactive online course
To support children’s education and care service teams to self-assess their performance in delivering quality children’s education and care, and to plan future improvements, ACECQA have developed a new interactive free online professional development course on Developing a QIP.
The online course features a series of three eLearning modules:
Module 1: explores how the NQF and the National Quality Standard (NQS) provide a national approach to quality improvement for children’s education and care services. The module also examines self-assessment as an important first step in an effective cycle of continuous quality improvement.
Module 2: takes an in-depth look at QIPs including: their purpose, the relevant and associated legislative requirements, what information your QIP needs to include and tips for developing and implementing your QIP.
Module 3: ties the information explored in the first two modules together and explores ways to use self-assessment and quality improvement planning to support continuous quality improvement. The module includes useful information on planning your approach, undertaking the self-assessment process, and maintaining your QIP.
This workbook, incorporating useful tips, reflective questions, and activities, accompanies the eLearning modules.
The National Regulations detail the minimum operational requirements for services, providers, service leaders and educators. There should be embedded processes in place to monitor compliance within each setting.
This Self-assessment of Compliance Tool 
(412kb) has been developed by CECA to assist providers, service leaders and educators to gain a knowledge and application of the National Regulations. Services that use this tool to reflect on their operational requirements are confident in understanding the National Regulations, provide better outcomes for children, and demonstrate compliance during their assessment and rating and compliance visits.