“It’s our polite nudge in the ribs to help you and your team stay organised and on task.”
This week’s subject is: Responsible person.
Element 4.1.1: The organisation of educators across the service supports children’s learning and development
Are you consistently fulfilling your responsibilities to appoint and clearly display the details of the responsible person whenever the service is operating, educating, and caring for children?
The National Law requires that a responsible person must be present at all times that a centre-based service is educating and caring for children. The details of the Responsible Person must be displayed and be clearly visible to families and visitors at the main entry of the service.
A responsible person can be one of the following (s162):
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- the approved provider or a person with management or control of the service if the approved provider is not an individual
- the nominated supervisor of the service
- a person in day-to-day charge of service.
The approved provider of a family day care service must ensure a support person is available at all times that a family day care educator is delivering education and care (s164).
A support person can be:
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- the approved provider, or a person with management or control of the family day care service, if the approved provider is not an individual
- the nominated supervisor of the service
- a person in day-to-day charge of the family day care service.
The support person may provide support to family day care educators by phone.
If the Responsible Person leaves the premises (during the hours that children are being educated and cared for), they must ‘hand over’ obligations for the role to another duly appointed person at the Service. It is vital that all handovers to a designated responsible person are documented when commencing this position, throughout the day. The process for determining the responsible person should be clear to all educators and staff, and procedures will be followed at all times. Both the outgoing and incoming responsible persons will ensure the displayed name of the current responsible person at the Service correctly reflects who currently holds the position.
The Responsible Person must:
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- be over 18 years of age
- have successfully completed an ACECQA approved child protection training course
- have adequate knowledge and understanding of the provision of education and care to children and their responsibilities within the role of responsible person
- have an ability to effectively supervise and manage the service
Suggestions:
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- Communicate with families when a new Responsible Person has been appointed via your Service newsletter or information sharing app
- Display a photograph of the Responsible Person on duty in a prominent position in the foyer for ease of viewing and identifying this person for families. If this person changes during the day for any reason, ensure the photograph also changes (along with their name)
- If the Responsible Person needs to change during the day, they will ‘hand over’ obligations for the role to another duly appointed person at the service
- It is vital that the Responsible Person is documented on the staff roster when taking over this position
- Provide options for professional development (either in-house or outsourced) covering the key legislative requirements and responsibilities of the Responsible Person role, as part of both the induction process and ongoing training for any staff member appointed to the role.
Written consent to accept the position is required via a formal Offer and Acceptance form which includes:
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- Personal details
- Required documentation (criminal history check, working with children check etc.)
- Declaration
Responsible Person Offer and Acceptance:
To consent to the position of Responsible Person, you must ensure you are familiar with the requirements and obligations set out under the National Quality Framework of Early Childhood Education and Care which includes the Education and Care Services National Law and the Education and Care Services National Regulations and understand the roles and responsibilities of this position.
Resources:
Roles and responsibilities- Responsible persons
Responsible Person requirements for Approved Providers
ECA Learning Hub- Understand the role: Nominated supervisor and person in day-to-day charge in education and care
Guide to the NQF- Operational Requirements- QA 4: Staffing arrangements
Within System7 go to Quality Area 4/Module 2 to submit self-assessment notes and if required, open a QIP issue if you identify any areas of improvement.
The Childcare Centre Desktop has a range of resources to assist services with staffing arrangements and the role of the Responsible Person. These include Responsible Person Routine Checklist, Responsible Person Register, Responsible Person Procedure, Responsible Person on Duty Poster, Responsible Person Policy, Responsible Person Offer and Acceptance and much more.
Resources, NQS Element, Regulation and System7 links:
Childcare Centre Desktop – Childcare Centre Desktop
National Quality Standard – QA4 / Element: 4.1.1
National Regulations – 117A, 117B, 117C, 150, 168 (i) (ii) National Law- s162, s164
System7 Module – QA4 / Module 2
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