Authorisations policy in early childhood services

Requirements of the acceptance and refusal of authorisations policy for National Quality Framework (NQF) services.

Authorisations required under the NQF

Authorisation must be obtained for:

administering medication to children (except in anaphylaxis or asthma emergencies)
obtaining medical treatment for children
transportation by an ambulance service
children leaving the premises in the care of someone other than the parent
children to be taken on excursions or regular outings
transportation of children provided or arranged by the service.

Authorisations can be given by parents, or others nominated on the child’s enrolment form to consent on parents’ behalf. They must be kept on the child’s enrolment form.

These authorisations must be confirmed by the service:

annually by the service (medical care, medication)
once for every 12 months for ‘regular transportation'
once every 12 months for regular outings
each individual occasion an excursion is organised.

The Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA)’s Guide to the NQF has detailed information on different authorisations:

medication records
self-administration of medication
medical conditions policy
transportation
excursions and regular outings.

Refer also to Managing children’s medical conditions.

Refusal of authorisations

Services must have an Acceptance and Refusal of Authorisations Policy and procedures. It should set out evidence-based quality practice guidelines for the acceptance and refusal of authorisations.

When services may consider refusing an authorisation

In some situations, the service may decide to:

refuse an authorisation that has been given in the child’s enrolment form, or
ask for more information before making a decision.

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Administration of medication

Considerations for the service before accepting or refusing an authorisation.

An authorisation may be refused by the service in the following circumstances: Someone asks the service to administer medication to a child, but the person making the request is not authorised to do so.
The service is asked to administer medication to a child that is not in accordance with the requirements of regulation 95 of the Education and Care Services National Regulations (National Regulations). For example, it is not being administered from its original container.

Self-administration of medication

Below are considerations for the service before accepting or refusing the authorisation to self-administer medication:

Is the child capable of self-administering the medication?
Will the service allow all school age children to self-administer? Reference: regulation 96, National Regulations.

Children leaving the education and care service premises

Circumstances where an authorisation might be refused:

if the parent, or any other authorised nominee or person as listed in regulation 99, does not appear to be fit to take care of the child (for example, they are affected by drugs or alcohol)
if the sibling or older child authorised to take another child out of the service does not appear to be capable or is too young
if the child has been given authorisation to leave the service alone, however:

they do not appear to be capable, or
the environment they would be in alone is unsafe. The service could consider consulting the school about their process (if providing education and care on a school site).

Reference: regulation 99, National Regulations.

Authorisation for excursions

The service may refuse an authorisation for an excursion if it does not comply with regulation 102, such as when it is not signed by a person authorised to do so.

Reference: regulation 102, National Regulations.

Recording when authorisations are refused

If a service refuses an authorisation, the decision should be documented carefully by noting:

the details of the authorisation
why the authorisation was refused
the actions taken by the service.

For example, if the service refused to let an authorised nominee named in the child’s enrolment record collect the child from the service as they were under the influence of alcohol. The service should record all these details and what action was taken to ensure that the child was collected safely.

Policy documentation

The service’s acceptance or refusal of authorisations policy can be a stand-alone policy, or it may be incorporated into other relevant policies required under regulation 168 of the National Regulations.

Not all authorisations will apply to all service types:

If the service does not allow self-administration in their medical conditions policy, then reference in relation to the acceptance or refusal of self-administration of medication is not required.
Services that do not have school-aged children would not be expected to have practices for the acceptance and refusal of authorisations to self-administer medication in their medical conditions policy. A service with school age children may consider including one.

Reference: regulation 9, National Regulations.

For more information required under the NQF, refer to Policies and procedures in early childhood services.

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Updated 27 March 2026

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Authorisations policy in early childhood services

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Authorisations required under the NQF

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