EDUCATION AND CARE SERVICES NATIONAL REGULATIONS 2012 - REG 4

EDUCATION AND CARE SERVICES NATIONAL REGULATIONS 2012 - REG 4

4 .         Definitions

        (1)         In these Regulations —

        actively working towards a qualification — see regulation 10;

        approved certificate III level education and care qualification means —

            (a)         a qualification for the education and care of children generally or children of a specified age that is approved by the National Authority and included in the list of approved certificate III level education and care qualifications published under regulation 137; or

            (b)         a qualification included in the list of approved diploma level education and care qualifications or approved early childhood teaching qualifications published under regulation 137;

        approved diploma level education and care qualification means —

            (a)         a qualification for the education and care of children generally or children of a specified age that is approved by the National Authority and included in the list of approved diploma level education and care qualifications published under regulation 137; or

            (b)         a qualification included in the list of approved early childhood teaching qualifications published under regulation 137;

        approved early childhood teaching qualification means a qualification for the education and care of children generally or children of a specified age that is approved by the National Authority and included in the list of approved early childhood teaching qualifications published under regulation 137;

        approved number of places , in relation to a centre‑based service, means the maximum number of children who can be educated and cared for by the service at any one time, stated on the service approval under section 52(g) of the Law;

        authorised emergency contact , in relation to a child, means a person named in the child’s enrolment record as a person who is to be notified of an emergency involving the child if any parent of the child cannot be immediately contacted;

        bankruptcy declaration means a declaration made by an individual about any proceeding in bankruptcy brought against the individual including —

            (a)         whether any actions have been taken against the individual under Part IV of the Bankruptcy Act 1966 of the Commonwealth; and

            (b)         whether the individual has made any debt agreement under Part IX of the Bankruptcy Act 1966 of the Commonwealth; and

            (c)         whether the individual has made any personal insolvency agreement under Part X of the Bankruptcy Act 1966 of the Commonwealth;

        building law means a law generally regulating building construction and demolition;

        building permit means a permit or consent to carry out building work issued under a building law or planning and development law of a participating jurisdiction;

        building practitioner means —

            (a)         a person who is registered as a building surveyor, building inspector or draftsperson under a law of a participating jurisdiction; or

            (b)         a person who is registered as an architect under a law of a participating jurisdiction; or

            (c)         a person who is licensed as a surveyor under a law of a participating jurisdiction; or

            (d)         a person who is licensed or registered as a building certifier under a law of a participating jurisdiction; or

            (e)         a person who is accredited under a law of a participating jurisdiction to design buildings that will be used to provide education and care services;

        centre‑based service means an education and care service other than a family day care service;

        certificate of final inspection means a certificate issued on completion of building work by a building practitioner under a building law or planning and development law of a participating jurisdiction;

        child over preschool age means a child who —

            (a)         is enrolled or registered at a school; and

            (b)         attends, or in the current calendar year will attend, school in the year before grade 1 or in grade 1 or a higher grade;

        child preschool age or under means a child under the age of 7 years who is not a child over preschool age;

        criminal history record check means a full disclosure Australia‑wide criminal history record check, issued by a police force or other authority of a State or Territory or the Commonwealth;

        criminal history statement means a statement made by an individual that —

            (a)         states whether the individual has been convicted in Australia of any offences relevant to a person seeking to work with children; and

            (b)         includes details of those convictions;

        diagnosed as at risk of anaphylaxis , in relation to a child, means a child who has been diagnosed by a registered medical practitioner as at risk of anaphylaxis;

        disciplinary proceedings statement means a statement made by an individual that states —

            (a)         whether the individual is or has been subject to a formal disciplinary proceeding or action under an education law of a participating jurisdiction (other than a proceeding or action that was unsuccessful or was withdrawn); and

            (b)         the outcome of the proceeding or action (if known);

        early childhood teacher means a person with an approved early childhood teaching qualification;

        educational program means a program referred to in section 168 of the Law;

        emergency , in relation to an education and care service, means an incident, situation or event where there is an imminent or severe risk to the health, safety or wellbeing of a person at the education and care service;

        Examples for this definition:

        1.         Flood.

        2.         Fire.

        3.         A situation that requires the education and care service premises to be locked down.

        excursion means an outing organised by an education and care service or family day care educator, but does not include an outing organised by an education and care service provided on a school site if —

            (a)         the child or children leave the education and care service premises in the company of an educator; and

            (b)         the child or children do not leave the school site;

        family assistance law has the same meaning as it has in the A New Tax System (Family Assistance) (Administration) Act 1999 of the Commonwealth;

        family day care educator assistant means a person engaged by or registered with a family day care service to assist family day care educators;

        financial declaration means a declaration made by a person who is not an individual indicating whether the person is or has been declared insolvent or is or has been placed under external administration;

        in attendance , at a centre‑based service, in relation to an early childhood teacher or a suitably qualified person — see regulation 11;

        infectious disease , in relation to a participating jurisdiction, means an infectious disease that is designated under a law of that jurisdiction or by a health authority (however described) as a disease that would require a person with the disease to be excluded from an education and care service;

        medication means medicine within the meaning of the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989 of the Commonwealth;

        multi‑storey building means a building with more than 2 storeys;

        occupancy permit means a certificate or permit issued under a building law or planning and development law of a participating jurisdiction that permits a building to be occupied;

        overseas criminal history statement means a statement made by an individual that —

            (a)         states whether the individual has been convicted outside Australia of any offences relevant to a person seeking to work with children; and

            (b)         includes details of those convictions;

        planning and development law means a law generally regulating the planning of the use and development of land;

        planning permit means a permit, approval or consent in respect of the use or development of any land granted under a building law or a planning and development law of a participating jurisdiction;

        preschool program means an early childhood educational program delivered by a qualified early childhood teacher to children in the year that is 2 years before grade 1 of school;

        previous service statement means a statement made by an individual that states —

            (a)         whether or not the individual has held any role with an education and care service or a children’s service in the previous 3 years; and

            (b)         includes the following details for each role —

                  (i)         the name of the service; and

                  (ii)         the State or Territory in which the service was located; and

                  (iii)         the nature of the role;

        registered medical practitioner means a person registered under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law to practise in the medical profession (other than as a student);

        regular outing , in relation to an education and care service, means a walk, drive or trip to and from a destination —

            (a)         that the service visits regularly as part of its educational program; and

            (b)         where the circumstances relevant to the risk assessment are substantially the same on each outing;

        regular transportation , in relation to an education and care service, means the transportation by the service or arranged by the service (other than as part of an excursion) of a child being educated and cared for by the service, where the circumstances relevant to a risk assessment are substantially the same for each occasion on which the child is transported;

        renovate , in relation to premises, means —

            (a)         construction, demolition, removal or relocation of a building or other fixed structure (or part of a building or other fixed structure); or

            (b)         carrying out structural alterations on a building or other fixed structure;

        responsible person , in relation to an education and care service, means a person referred to in section 162(1)(a) to (c) of the Law;

        scheme commencement day means —

            (a)         for all participating jurisdictions other than Western Australia — 1 January 2012; and

            (b)         for Western Australia — 1 August 2012;

        serious incident  — see regulation 12;

        soil assessment means an analysis of soil conducted by an environmental consultant, environmental consulting firm, or environmental auditor for the purposes of determining —

            (a)         the nature, extent and levels of contamination; and

            (b)         the actual or potential risk to human health resulting from that contamination;

        storey , of a building, includes the following —

            (a)         the ground level;

            (b)         a level of a split level;

        suitably qualified person means a person who has —

            (a)         a qualification for the education and care of children generally or children of a specified age that is approved by the National Authority and included in the list of approved qualifications for suitably qualified persons published under regulation 137; or

            (b)         a qualification approved by the National Authority as a higher qualification for suitably qualified persons and included in the list of approved qualifications for suitably qualified persons published under regulation 137;

        the Law means the Education and Care Services National Law ;

        working directly with children  — see regulation 13;

        working with children check number has the same meaning as it has in the Child Protection (Working With Children) Act 2012 of New South Wales;

        working with vulnerable people check means a check of a person under a working with vulnerable people law of a participating jurisdiction;

        working with vulnerable people registration means a registration issued to a person under the Registration to Work With Vulnerable People Act 2013 of Tasmania allowing the person to be engaged in childcare services.

        (1A)         A requirement under these Regulations applying in relation to a stated number of children applies each time there is the stated number of children or a part of the stated number.

        Example for this subregulation:

                There are 33 children aged 36 months or over (not including children over preschool age) at a centre‑based service. Regulation 123(1)(c)(ii) requires 1 educator for each 10 children. In this case 4 educators would be required.

        (2)         Unless the context otherwise requires, a reference in these Regulations to a Part by a number is a reference to the Part, designated by that number, of these Regulations.

        (3)         Guides to Chapters do not form part of these Regulations.

        Note for this regulation:

                This regulation differs from regulation 4 of the national regulations made by the Ministerial Council.

        [Regulation 4 amended: Gazette 13 Dec 2013 p.   6151‑2; 28 Nov 2014 p. 4402; 26 Jun 2018 p. 2358; 28 Sep 2018 p. 3605‑6; 24 Dec 2019 p. 4422; SL 2020/143 r. 4; SL 2023/186 r. 4.]