Child care ratios and qualifications for child care

You want to know that your child is receiving the best possible care and attention while at their child care service, and in support of this, educator to child ratios are in place to ensure that there are enough educators working directly with children at each service.

Under The National Quality Framework, there are ratio requirements for specific service types and age brackets, and the government explains that these, 'Set ratios are based on evidence about how quality education and care benefits children.'

Educators have to be working directly with children to be counted in the educator to child ratio (not sitting around the corner eating lunch), and children must be adequately supervised at all times.

In centre-based services, like long day care, ratios are calculated across the whole service (not room by room), and ACECQA explains that, ‘An educator who is caring for one age range of children can also be counted against another age range of children, as long as the ratio for each age range is maintained and adequate supervision is maintained at all times.’

The Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority's Educator to Child Ratio Calculator helps centre-based services work out the minimum number of educators they need for the children they're looking after.

Educator to child ratios around Australia

Each state and territory has its own ratio requirements, and child care ratios around the nation are detailed in the following table:

EARLY CHILDHOOD TEACHER REQUIREMENTS

The number of children attending a centre-based service determines how much time an early childhood teacher (ECT) needs to be available, and since 1 January 2020, there has been an extra staffing requirement for some long day care services, preschools and kindergartens.

Services with 60 or more children in attendance at any one time must enlist the help of a second ECT or ‘suitably qualified person,’ and the ECT requirements for centre-based services are as follows:

If there are less than 25 children: The service must have access to an ECT for at least 20 per cent of the time the service is operating. The ECT can do this by using ‘information communication technology.’

If there are 25 to 59 children: A full-time or full-time equivalent ECT must be employed/engaged by the service, or an ECT must attend the service for:

• Six hours a day (when the service operates for 50+ hours per week), or
• Sixty per cent of the time (when the service operates for less than 50 hours a week).

If there are 60 to 80 children: The same requirements as for 25 to 59 children apply and the service must employ a second ECT or ‘suitably qualified person’ to attend for:

• Three hours a day (when the service operates for 50+ hours per week), or
• Thirty per cent of the time (when the service operates for less than 50 hours a week).

These requirements don’t apply if the service has 60 to 80 approved places and it employs/engages a full-time or full-time equivalent ECT, plus a second ECT or suitably qualified person for half of the full-time or full-time equivalent hours at the service.

If there are more than 80 children: The same requirements as for 25 to 59 children apply and a second employed ECT or suitably qualified person has to be in attendance for:

• Six hours a day (when the service operates for 50+ hours per week), or
• Sixty per cent of the time (when the service operates for less than 50 hours a week).

These requirements don’t apply if the service has over 80 approved places and it employs/engages a full-time or full-time equivalent ECT, plus a second full-time or full-time equivalent ECT or suitably qualified person.

Things are different in NSW, because of reg 272 of the National Regulations. Click here for the detail.

Further information about the educator to child ratios, qualification requirements for educators and the National Quality Framework can be found on the ACECQA website.