ACECQA offers new guidance on when to lodge a notification

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Freya Lucas

Jul 08, 2024

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The Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) has offered support for educators and providers in relation to when to notify the relevant regulatory authority of a serious incident, complaint, or change of information.

Approved providers must notify the regulatory authority of certain incidents, complaints and changes to information under the Education and Care Services National Law. Notifications provide transparency and accountability. They also enable serious incidents, complaints, and breaches of the National Law and National Regulations to be effectively monitored, tracked and resolved.

To support services, educators and leaders who struggle in this space ACECQA has placed an interactive National Decision Tree on its website which is designed to help approved providers and their staff identify whether a notification must be made to the regulatory authority (and in what timeframe).

The National Decision Tree provides guidance and information about all notifications that must be made to the regulatory authority under the National Law and National Regulations.

The National Decision Tree includes guidance and explanations of key terms, including ‘trauma’, ‘missing from the service’, ‘not accounted for’, ‘physical abuse’, ‘sexual abuse’, ‘complaint’ and more.

It also includes useful examples of scenarios that must be notified, including serious injuries, serious illnesses and circumstances that pose a risk to the health, safety or wellbeing of children.

“If you need to lodge a notification, the National Decision Tree will provide you with information about how long you have and the next step to take,” information from ACECQA notes.

“Users will be directed to log in and lodge the relevant online form via the National Quality Agenda IT System. Please remember to fill in all relevant form fields and include any relevant documentation so the regulatory authority can assess whether it must take any action.”

Access the National Decision Tree here.

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