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Children’s services regulated under state law

Information about occasional care and limited hours services.

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Services regulated under the Children’s Services Act 1996

Children’s services offer care to children on a non-regular, or ad hoc basis.

They include:

These services are often in settings such as neighbourhood houses and recreational facilities.

Children’s services operate under the:

A children’s service provides education and care for 4 or more children under the age of 13 years when parents of the children are not physically present, and:

Services that provide education and care to children on a regular basis are regulated under the National Quality Framework (NQF), not under the CS Act. These services include:

Some services and activities for young children are not included in either regulatory scheme.

Service approval types

Two types of service approval can be granted under the CS Act:

Regulatory requirements for children’s services

Most of the regulatory requirements for children’s services are the same as those for centre-based education and care services under the NQF.

However, there are some areas where the requirements differ:

There are also some slightly different requirements for staffing (educator qualifications and early childhood teacher attendance) and outdoor space, depending on the type of service approval.

Consideration is being given to aligning the CS Act with changes to the Education and Care Services National Law made by the Early Childhood Legislation Amendment (Child Safety) Act 2025.

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The minimum staffing requirements and educator to child ratios for children’s services are the same as those for centre-based education and care services under the NQF.

The requirements for educator qualifications in Occasional Care services are the same as for centre-based services in the NQF. However, the requirements are slightly different for Limited Hours services.

All educators educating and caring for children must have completed at least an approved Certificate III level Education and Care qualification.

Of the educators required to meet the educator to child ratio:

Approved qualifications are those approved by the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA).

Educators without approved qualifications whose historical minimum training was recognised under the Children’s Services Regulations 2009 continue to have their training recognised under the CS Regulations. These educators undertook a specific bridging course instead of a Certificate III.

Children’s services that provide education and care to any child for more than 30 hours per week on average over any given 4-week period, must have an early childhood teacher in attendance for at least 50 per cent of the time the service is operating, or 20 hours per week (whichever is lower).

First aid, anaphylaxis and asthma management training

The requirements for first aid, anaphylaxis and asthma management training in children’s services are the same as for centre-based services in the NQF.

Read about First aid, anaphylaxis and asthma management training.

Indoor and outdoor space requirements

Before the children’s services regulatory regime was aligned with the NQF in 2020, some service licence types were not required to have outdoor space.

Occasional care services that were former Limited Hours Type 2 licensed services that do not have 7 square metres of outdoor space per child can operate under the occasional care service type while maintaining the previous 5 hours per day and 15 hours per week limitation on providing education and care for any child.

Verandah space may be:

Transportation provided or arranged by the service

The requirements for children’s services are the same as the requirements under the NQF relating to:

Read more about the NQF transportation requirements for early childhood services including videos and other resources. While this information was created for NQF services, it may assist children’s services in meeting the requirements for transportation.

Please disregard the specific references to the Education and Care Services National Regulations as regulation references are different for the CS Regulations.

Persons with Management or Control of a service (PMC)

On 1 July 2023, the definition of persons with management or control (PMC) in the Children’s Services Act 1996 (CS Act) was broadened to include persons who:

Following these changes a PMC is a person:

To notify the Regulatory Authority about changes in PMCs, approved providers must complete the following forms:

Submit forms by email to: vecra@education.vic.gov.au

Resources and guidance for children’s services

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The following resources can be used by children’s services:

ACECQA’s Guide to the National Quality Framework and other resources including information about the approved learning frameworks.

Some children’s services may be considering moving to the NQF regulatory regime. The fact sheet below sets out matters to help approved providers make a decision:

Register of children’s services

To find an approved children’s service, check the: Register of Approved Children’s Services – April 2026 (XLSX, 87KB).

For education and care services that operate under the NQF, check the national registers.

Forms

Download the relevant form from the list below.

Complete the form and sign it, attaching all the information and documents requested.

For help completing the form, read the:

How to submit forms

Completed applications and notifications must be submitted by email to the Regulatory Authority at vecra@education.vic.gov.au for assessment and processing.

Incomplete forms

Forms will not be processed unless:

Each form outlines the required information and documentation for the application or notification.

Providing false or misleading information to the Regulatory Authority is an offence under the CS Act.

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Fees and penalties

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In line with the Monetary Units Act 2004, all fees in the Children’s Services Act 1996 and Children’s Services Regulations 2020 are expressed in fee units rather than dollars and automatically indexed each year on 1 July. The value of a fee unit each year is fixed by the Treasurer.

The tables (in the Children’s service fees document) convert the fee units to dollar amounts. The fees are effective from 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026. There is no GST payable on fees.

Children’s Services Act 1996 Fees 2025-2026 (DOCX, 86.5KB)

Children’s Services Act 1996 Fees 2025-2026 (PDF, 144KB)

In line with the Monetary Units Act 2004, all penalties in the Children’s Services Act 1996 and Children’s Services Regulations 2020 are expressed in penalty units rather than dollars and automatically indexed each year on 1 July. The value of a penalty unit each year is fixed by the Treasurer.

The tables in the Children’s service regulatory penalties document below convert the penalty units to dollar amounts. The penalties are effective from 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026. There is no GST payable on penalties.

Children’s Services Act Penalties 2025-26 (DOCX, 102KB)

Children’s Services Act Penalties 2025-26 (PDF, 240KB)

For more information, read Indexation of fees and penalties.

Legislation

Education & training

Updated 7 April 2026

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