In Home Care qualification exemptions

In Home Care (IHC) educators working in remote and very remote areas may be exempt from the minimum qualification requirements.

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About

Generally, IHC educators must hold, or be working towards, at least a Certificate III in early childhood education and care (ECEC).

From 1 January 2025, providers may engage IHC educators who do not meet minimum qualification requirements to work in remote and very remote areas. Educators must meet an exemption criterion.  

This exemption recognises the difficulty in attracting and retaining IHC educators in remote and very remote areas.

There are no exemptions for first aid or other required qualifications.

Exemption criteria

Providers may engage IHC educators who don’t meet minimum qualification requirements to work in remote or very remote areas if:

  • the unqualified educator has access to and utilises the experience of a qualified educator at least 20% of the time care is provided, or
  • the unqualified educator has been continuously employed in an ECEC service in a remote or very remote area for at least 15 years.

Remote and very remote areas

The educator must work in a remote and very remote areas according to the Accessibility and Remoteness Index of Australia (ARIA+) measure on the Australian Bureau of Statistics website.

Access to a qualified educator

The qualified educator must:  

  • hold at least a Certificate III in ECEC
  • be available for at least 20% of the time care is provided to the family
  • support the unqualified educator to develop an individual, tailored education program which acknowledges and strengthens the cultural identity of each child
  • review the progress of the children in accordance with the program.

This may involve interacting with both the educator and the children. Interactions may take place in person or online.

If a family receives IHC for 5 days per week, this interaction should occur for one day per week on average. Interaction must occur at least monthly.

15 years of continuous employment

You must have documentary evidence showing that the unqualified educator has been continuously employed at an ECEC service in a remote or very remote location for at least 15 years.

What providers need to do

Declaration form

Providers must complete the IHC qualification exemption declaration and send it to inhomecare@education.gov.au.

A person with management or control (PMC) of the provider must complete the declaration.

The form requires you to declare you have:

  • advised the educator about the matters included in the form’s privacy statement
  • obtained the educator’s consent to apply on their behalf.

Supporting unqualified educators  

We encourage providers to build relationships with, mentor and support unqualified educators.

You must ensure unqualified educators complete:

  • the IHC service’s full induction program, including risk and hazard identification and management, educational programming and anything else relevant to the family’s circumstances
  • ACECQA’s IHC quality and safety e-learning modules.

Contact IHCqualityandsafety@acecqa.gov.au to register for the e-learning modules.

Where possible, you should support educators to complete minimum qualifications.

You may also find the following resources useful to support unqualified educators:  

  • educational leadership  
  • mentors for beginning early childhood teachers  
  • new educator survival guide.  

Record keeping

Providers must keep records that show:

  • how and when unqualified educators are supported
  • how educators meet an exemption criterion.

We may request these records at any time.

Reporting obligations  

Providers must tell us within 7 days if an educator engaged under the exemption:

  • ceases to be employed, or
  • no longer provides care for a family in a remote or very remote area.

Contact inhomecare@education.gov.au in this situation.

More information  

If you need more information, contact inhomecare@education.gov.au