Information for child care providers

Introduction

This guide has information on financial help and grants available for regulated child care providers, help with registering a service and qualification requirements for staff including:


Early childhood services subsidy

The early childhood services subsidy is paid directly to child care providers to help with the cost of providing a service and to reduce the cost of child care for parents.

How much is the subsidy

The subsidy has two flat rates:

  • $30 per equivalent full time place, per week for children aged under two years of age
  • $22 per equivalent full time place, per week for children aged two to five years of age.

Who can apply for the subsidy

The following regulated services are eligible to receive the subsidy:

  • long day care
  • family day care
  • three year old kindergarten.

How the subsidy is calculated

The subsidy is calculated on the average number of equivalent full-time places in a financial quarter, multiplied by the number of operating weeks.

Early Childhood Education and Care will periodically monitor and check the accuracy of data provided by child care operators.

How the subsidy is paid

An agreement form is forwarded to eligible services before each financial year.

The subsidy is then paid quarterly, by electronic transfer into a nominated bank account.

Contact

You can contact Early Childhood Education and Care by either:


Long day care upgrade grant

The annual grant provides financial assistance for building and ground upgrades to the following regulated community-based and not-for-profit services:

  • long day care
  • three year old kindergarten.

How the grant is provided


Early Childhood Education and Care will write to all eligible service providers and invite them to apply for the annual grant.

Applications must demonstrate a willingness to contribute financially towards the cost of the proposed building and ground upgrades.

Contact

For further information contact Early Childhood Education and Care by either:


Toy and equipment grant

The toy and equipment grant provides regulated long day care and three year old kindergarten services with funding to purchase appropriate toys and play based equipment.

This grant is calculated using current utilisation rates and is paid to services every two years.

Contact

For further information contact Early Childhood Education and Care by either:


Help with legal requirements

This page has information for child care providers about your regulatory authority, approval to operate a service and quality assessment and rating.

Quality Education and Care NT (QECNT)

Quality Education and Care NT (QECNT) regulates early childhood education and care services (including child care providers) in the Northern Territory under the National Quality Framework.

The role of QECNT includes:

  • ensuring services comply with the law
  • approving applications to operate a child care service
  • quality rating of services against national standards
  • incident and complaint investigation.

Approval and notification requirements

QECNT can assist you with any of the following:

  • applying to become a registered provider of child care
  • applying to operate a service or centre
  • applying to become a certified supervisor
  • notification of change of status, incidents or complaints.

Go to the national authority ACECQA website for more information on approval and notification requirements.

Quality assessment and rating

Childcare services are assessed and rated under the National Quality Framework (NQF). 

QECNT undertakes the assessment and rating process in the Territory. 

Go to the ACECQA website for more information on assessment and rating.

Read more about the National Quality Framework.

Contact

You can contact Quality Education and Care NT by either:


Qualification and ratio requirements for staff

This page has information on the qualification requirements for staff and ratios for long day care, preschool or kindergarten, family day care and outside school hours care under the National Quality Framework.

Child care teacher qualifications

If you run a long day care, preschool or three year old kindergarten services you are required to have either access to, or have in attendance, an early childhood teacher (ECT). 

Go to the Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) website for more information about the ECT requirements.

If your staff already hold a qualification, check the ACECQA website to ensure it is an approved ECT qualification. 

If it is not approved, but you believe that is equivalent to those listed, your staff may be eligible to have their qualification assessed as equivalent by ACECQA.  

Child care general educator qualifications

If you are a centre based service providing education and care to children of preschool age or under, you must ensure staff working directly with children meet the following qualification requirements:

  • at least 50% of staff hold or are actively working towards an approved diploma or higher qualification, and
  • all other educators either hold or are actively working towards an approved certificate III level qualification.

Qualifications in family day care

If you run family day care, all your educators must either hold or be actively working towards an approved certificate III level qualification.

All family day care coordinators must hold at least an approved diploma level qualification.

Qualifications in outside school hours care

If you run an outside school hours care facility at least 50% of your staff working directly with children must have or be working towards either:

  • an approved qualification listed on the ACECQA website
  • a 2 year accredited post secondary course in child care, or
  • a post secondary sports and recreation or teaching qualification.

First aid qualifications

If you run a child care service you must have staff in attendance, and immediately available at all times, with the following first aid qualifications:

  • current approved first aid qualification
  • approved anaphylaxis management training, and
  • approved asthma management training.

Go to the ACECQA website for more information on approved qualifications.

Child care educator to child ratios

You must ensure the following educator to child ratios at all times:

  • children from birth to 2 years of age - 1 educator to 4 children
  • children over 2 to 3 years of age - 1 educator to 5 children
  • children aged 3 to 4 years of age - 1 educator to 11 children
  • children 5 years and over - 1 educator to 15 children

If you provide a family day care service you need 1 educator to 7 children. This includes the educators own children if they are 13 years of age or under.  No more than 4 children can be 4 years of age or under.

Go to the ACECQA website for more information on educator to child ratios.

Contact

Contact Quality Education and Care NT for more information by either:

  • phone: (08) 8999 3561
  • email: qualityecnt.det@nt.gov.au