Child Care
Student Life
Children’s Services are bound by State and Commonwealth Regulations. The State regulations provide for the operation and program of the Centres, while the Commonwealth legislation oversees the funding of the Child Care Benefit (CCB) for families and the National Child Care Accreditation system (NCAC). This system ensures parents that that a service is providing good quality care.
For more information about the Child Care Benefit visit the Australian Government site (Link opens in a new window).
Each Centre develops its own policies in conjunction with staff and parents. Policies are dynamic documents and are revised regularly.
All Commonwealth funded child care services must comply with relevant State or Territory Government licensing regulations. These cover matters such as the number of children the service can care for, safety requirements and the qualifications of carers.
Child care centres at Deakin are therefore regulated by the following:
1. Children’s Services Act 1996
This legislation provides for
the licensing and regulation of children’s services. The Minister for
Community Services, for Victoria is the responsible Minister. The Secretary
of Department of Human
Services keeps the registry of licences.
2. Children’s Services Regulations 1998
This is the operational information
that regulates the licensing and operation of children’s services. New
regulations came into being as of 1 June, 2003 and transitional provision was
made for services in these regulations. Child Care or Early Childhood Services
comes under the Community Care Division of the Department of Human Services
(DHS).
Each Centre is licensed for a certain number of places in a particular age-group. So placement can depend on the following:
The Commonwealth Priority of Access Guidelines are primarily referred to when a service has a large waiting list and a number of parents competing for a limited number of vacant places. Each Centre should have its own policy on selection which also refer to these Guidelines.
