Applicants must apply for approval to the relevant Regulatory Authority before operating an education and care service. The Victorian Early Childhood Regulatory Authority (VECRA) is the Regulatory Authority for Victoria.
VECRA is responsible for:
- granting approval for provider and service applications to operate an education and care service in Victoria under the National Quality Framework (NQF)
- performing quality assessment and rating processes
- ensuring education and care services meet the requirements of the Education and Care Services National Law (National Law) and Education and Care Services National Regulations (National Regulations). Access this legislation at: National Law and Regulations.
Information about requirements for provider and service approval is available on the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) website. ACECQA is the national, independent statutory authority governing the NQF.
Provider approval
Obtaining provider approval is the first step toward operating an approved service.
An application for provider approval can be made by either:
- an individual (e.g. sole proprietor), or
- a non-individual (e.g. a company, incorporated association or partnership).
All provider applications must be submitted through the National Quality Agenda IT System (NQA ITS system).
The approved provider of an approved education and care service is responsible for:
- ensuring the safety, health and wellbeing of the children being educated and cared for by the service
- meeting the educational and developmental needs of the children being educated and cared for by the service.
Applicants can submit an approval for provider approval and service approval at the same time, but service approval cannot be granted unless the provider approval application has been granted.
Provider approval is recognised nationally. This means that an approved provider does not need a separate provider approval in each state or territory in which they operate an approved education and care service (a service). However, separate approval must be sought from the respective Regulatory Authority in the state or territory in which the service will be operated.
Considerations before applying for provider approval
Before applying for provider approval, applicants need to consider the following:
- the type of legal entity you make an application under
- the name of the legal entity
- who will be nominated as a ‘person with management or control’. This is required if the applicant is a company rather than a sole proprietor.
Type of legal entity
The applicant must decide what type of legal entity they will use before applying for provider approval.
If you wish to change the legal entity type after being granted provider approval, you must submit a new application for provider approval and pay another application fee. For example, you will need to reapply if you change from sole proprietorship to a company.
Applicants should seek professional advice about which legal entity is appropriate for their circumstances. VECRA cannot provide advice on these matters.
Name of the legal entity
The legal entity type and name must be consistent in the application for:
- provider approval, and
- Child Care Subsidy (CCS).
Persons with management or control
An applicant for provider approval must nominate a person or persons to be a ‘person with management or control’ (PMC).
If you are a sole proprietor, you must be listed as a PMC in addition to any other PMCs. If you are not applying as an individual, you must nominate one or more PMCs within the entity.
A PMC is a person within or outside the approved provider who:
- manages the delivery of the provider’s service(s), or
- has significant influence over the planning, direction or control of the activities or delivery of the service.
The number of PMCs depend on the legal entity and size of the organisation, such as:
- an officer of a body corporate
- each member of the management committee of an association
- each partner of a partnership
- a person in a management position of the business with the responsibilities described above.
The approved provider must nominate the PMCs for their organisation.
ACECQA has information to help you decide who in your organisation should be nominated as a PMC: Identifying persons with management or control of a service from 1 July 2023 – Prospective providers.
Each PMC must demonstrate that they are a fit and proper person to be involved in the provision of an education and care service. This is important as PMCs make decisions that can impact the safety, health and wellbeing of children at their service(s).
Application checklist
Establishing an education and care service is an important decision. It comes with the responsibility of ensuring the service is compliant with the National Law and National Regulations.
As an applicant, the following questions may assist you in determining if you are ready to apply for provider approval:
- Am I familiar with the National Law and National Regulations?
- What is my legal entity and how will I ensure there are appropriate governance arrangements in place?
- What is my service philosophy and how am I committed to operating a quality education and care service?
- How will I engage, monitor, assess and support my educators?
- What is the National Quality Standard and how will I develop a Quality Improvement Plan?
- How will I ensure that my educators can plan and deliver an educational program to children?
If you cannot confidently answer these questions, you should undertake further research before applying. ACECQA offers online courses about the National Law which applicants and PMCs may find useful to prepare for their application.
The application process
Application submission
You must submit the following information online through the NQA ITS system as part of your application:
- the application for provider approval (form PA01)
- a declaration of fitness and propriety for each PMC and any company directors who will be a PMC (form PA02) – see above for information about who should be a PMC
- a current criminal history notification (no more than 6 months old) for each PMC and each person listed as a company director
- copy of a current Working with Children Check or details of a current Victorian Institute of Teaching (VIT) Registration for each person with management or control and each person listed as a company director
- evidence of legal identity – for example, an ASIC extract and evidence of company registration where relevant)
- resume and qualifications
- payment of the prescribed fee.
All these forms must be complete before the application can be submitted. This includes the supporting documents requested.
Prescribed fee
Refer to ACECQA’s information on prescribed annual and transaction fees.
The applicant must pay the relevant fee online. If payment is not received by the due date, then the application is invalid.
Incomplete applications
If an application is incomplete, VECRA will contact the applicant to request the missing information. The application cannot progress without all the required information.
You must submit the requested information through NQA ITS.
Fitness and propriety assessment
Each applicant and every PMC will be assessed for fitness and propriety. Information about criteria for fitness and propriety can be found in ACECQA’s Guide to the NQF.
Mandatory criteria can be found in section 13 of the National Law. They include:
- the applicant's history of compliance with the National Law and other relevant legislation
- any previous adverse decision under the National Law and other relevant legislation
- the criminal history of the applicants, as it may affect the person's suitability for the role of a provider of an education and care service
- a Working with Children Check (WWCC) in Victoria
- whether a person is bankrupt, or has applied to take the benefit of any law for the relief of bankrupt or insolvent debtors.
VECRA may also assess
- whether a PMC has a medical condition that prevents them from being responsible for providing an education and care service
- the financial circumstances of the applicants. This is relevant as it may limit the person's capacity to meet their obligations in providing education and care
- whether the applicant and each PMC have sufficient management capability to deliver a service according to the NQF, and
- any sanctions, suspensions or infringement notices given under the A New Tax System (Family Assistance) (Administration) Act 1999.
VECRA can consider other relevant circumstances when assessing an applicant and their PMC’s fitness and propriety. This includes assessing each PMC’s knowledge of the National Law and conducting referees’ assessments of their management and experience relevant to the early childhood education and care sector.
Online knowledge assessment
In Victoria, each PMC will be assessed to:
- demonstrate their ability to understand and use of
- the National Law, and
- the National Regulations
- show awareness of the National Quality Framework (NQF) in the operation of an education and care service.
This assessment is conducted by an online knowledge assessment. The online knowledge assessment tests the person’s knowledge and understanding of an approved provider’s obligations when operating a service.
The assessment tests:
- skills
- knowledge
- expertise
- diligence, and
- soundness of judgement.
An online onboarding process must be completed before commencing the online assessment. The purpose of this process is to enable you to:
- install and test the software required for the assessment
- confirm your identity, and
- complete example questions.
Conditions on provider approval
Approved providers must comply with the National Law and the conditions of their provider approval.
Provider approval is granted subject to conditions that are:
- prescribed in the National Regulations, and
- any additional conditions applied by the Regulatory Authority.
Additional conditions may be applied to provider approval by VECRA when approval is granted and at any other time.
Notification of decision
Decisions about an application for provider approval will be made within 60 days of VECRA receiving a valid application. This timeframe may be extended with consent from the applicant. This timeframe does not include the time taken by an applicant to provide additional information or for each PMC to complete the online knowledge assessment.
The applicant will be notified within 7 days of the decision.
If the application is successful, you will receive a provider approval certificate via email.
Assistance and advice
For more information and assistance, contact VECRA’s enquiries and support team:
- Phone: 1300 307 415 between 9am to 5pm (Monday to Friday)
- Email: licensed.childrens.services@education.vic.gov.au
VECRA can only discuss an application with:
- the applicant’s contact, or
- a person(s) with management or control of the proposed provider.
Please have the application reference numbers ready when contacting the VECRA about your application. These numbers begin with either ‘APP’ or ‘PR’.
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