We're ensuring quality and safety in services that aren't regulated under the National Quality Framework (NQF) and/or state and territory residual legislation.
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From 1 July 2026, new mandatory child safety training requirements apply to providers of In Home Care services and Community Child Care Fund Restricted services regulated under the Minister’s Rules. See below for more details.
Background
The Australian Government is committed to supporting the delivery of safe and high-quality early childhood education and care (ECEC).
The National Quality Framework (NQF) provides a national approach to regulation, assessment and quality improvement for most ECEC services. Regulatory authorities administer the NQF in each state and territory.
A small number of Child Care Subsidy (CCS) approved services are out of scope of the NQF and state and territory residual legislation.
These services are regulated under the Child Care Subsidy Minister’s Rules 2017 (Minister’s Rules). This includes:
- some Community Child Care Fund Restricted (CCCFR) grant funded services
- In Home Care (IHC) providers and services.
In early 2025, we strengthened regulatory activities to ensure these services comply with the quality and safety requirements in the Minister’s Rules.
Our regulatory approach:
- aligns with the key objectives of the NQF
- acknowledges the unique contexts these services operate in
- aims to ensure all children have access to high-quality and safe early learning environments.
Who is involved
This activity involves:
- CCCFR services regulated under the Minister’s Rules
- IHC providers and services regulated under the Minister’s Rules.
We are working with these services to improve quality and safety, acknowledging the unique contexts they operate in.
Our regulatory officers:
- take a risk-based approach to identifying services to help them deliver high-quality and safe ECEC
- monitor and guide services to deliver high-quality ECEC
- utilise the ongoing work in existing quality and safety projects.
How it works
The framework for CCCFR services
The Minister’s Rules Quality and Safety Regulatory Framework guides the approach to CCCFR services.
The framework aims to support continuous improvement in these services. It:
- involves regulatory officers, tools, resources and best practice guidance
- uses a strengths-based approach
- includes conditions from the Minister’s Rules and the Education and Care Services National Regulations
- is based on a review tool created by the Northern Territory Government as part of the Northern Territory Regulatory Project.
Our activity includes:
- monitoring and assessing compliance with Minister's Rules
- conducting site visits to evaluate adherence to Minister’s Rules and commitment to quality and safety
- providing guidance and support to services on quality and safety matters
- managing quality and safety notifications including serious incidents.
Alongside this work, support is currently available to CCCFR services through the ACECQA CCCFR Quality and Safety Project.
The approach to IHC services
Regulatory officers work with IHC services to assess compliance with quality and safety requirements in Minister’s Rules. The goal is to ensure that all children attending IHC services have access to high-quality and safe early learning environments.
Our work includes:
- analysing provider and service policy and procedures
- investigating serious incidents
- providing guidance and support for improving practice
- monitoring provider and service’s practice and operations with a focus on quality and safety.
We focus on areas widely recognised as high-risk in the context of a home care environment. This includes where heightened supervision and clear procedural guidance are critical to children’s health and safety.
Our regulatory officers will provide support and guidance for continuous improvement including recommendations and resources that support IHC providers in achieving any identified action items.
Alongside this work, support is currently available to IHC services through the ACECQA CCCFR Quality and Safety Project.
Mandatory training requirements
From 1 July 2026, mandatory child safety training requirements apply to all CCS approved services, including providers of IHC services and CCCFR services that are not regulated under the NQF.
The mandatory training includes:
- national child safety training (foundation and advanced)
- child protection training required in each state or territory.
Providers are responsible for ensuring relevant personnel complete mandatory training. This is a condition for ongoing CCS approval.
These requirements have been introduced through amendments to the Minister’s Rules.
For information about accessing training, who must complete training, deadlines and record keeping requirements, visit:
Contact
If you have questions about this work, contact FALQualitySafetyRegulation@education.gov.au.
If you have questions about the CCCFR grant, contact CCCFrestricted@education.gov.au.
If you have questions about the IHC program, contact inhomecare@education.gov.au.