Family day care, long day care, out of school hours care and preschools
For family day care, long day care, out of school hours care and preschools, a service approval authorises the approved provider to operate an ECEC service under the National Law and Regulations. For an approved provider to operate a service, the service must be approved.
Service approvals for these service types are submitted through NQA ITS.
The resources below will help you understand what is needed to apply for service approval:
- Checklist for long day care, out of school hours care and preschools (excluding public preschools) (DOCX 448 KB)
- Checklist for family day care (DOCX 313.1 KB)
- Checklist for public preschools (DOCX 446.6 KB)
Visit ACECQA for more information on how to apply and to access NQA ITS.
Occasional care and mobile services
For occasional care and mobile services, a service approval authorises the approved provider to operate an ECEC service under the State Regulations. For an approved provider to operate a service, the service must be approved.
To submit a service approval for occasional care, mobile services and Multipurpose Aboriginal Children's Services (MACS), visit our webpage for the relevant forms.
Applying to offer the Child Care Subsidy (CCS)
The CCS is the main way the Australian Government helps families with ECEC fees. There are 4 ECEC service types that can administer CCS:
- centre based day care
- outside school hours care
- family day care
- in home care.
If you plan on running a service that offers CCS you will need to apply through NQA ITS. This can be done at the same time as your service approval application.
The Australian Government does not have an estimated assessment timeframe for CCS approval. However, they cannot grant CCS approval until you have a service approval.
More information about this process can be found on the Australian Government website.
Transferring service approval for an existing service
Although a service approval application and/or an application to transfer an existing service can be submitted before the provider approval application has been finalised, these applications will be cancelled if the outcome of the provider application is refused. This applies to service approvals submitted either under the National Law and Regulations, or State Regulations.