Under the Child Care Act 2002(the Act) all premises must be safe and suitable for the provision of child care and compliant with the requirements within MP5.4: Child Care Centres of the Queensland Development Code (QDC).
The QDC provides standards for long day care (including kindergartens), limited hours care and outside school hours care (OSHC). Written evidence of compliance is required prior to a licence being issued. Three versions of the QDC exist which will apply to services depending on when the building approval application was lodged.
Physical requirements for family day care (FDC) are contained in the Child Care Regulation 2003.
The Education and Care Services National Law (Queensland) does not reference the QDC or building code to which services must adhere. All services need to consider the building code that applies to them based on when they were established or renovated. From May 2012, an amended Building Code of Australia (BCA) is expected to take effect for all new early childhood education and care services under the National Quality Framework (NQF).
The implementation of the Education and Care Services National Law (National Law) will mean that in 2012 (anticipated May 2012) the QDC will no longer set out the building standards for new centre -based education and care services in scope of the NQF.
Instead, the building standards for these services will be contained within the Education and Care Services National Regulations (National Regulations 
) and an amended version of the BCA. The BCA requires amendment as its application is limited and it does not currently focus on the specific design of education and care services. A consultation draft of the proposed amendments to the BCA is available on the Australian Building Codes Board website.
The physical requirements for new OSHC and FDC services will be contained in the National Regulations. Therefore, from 1 January 2012, these services will only need to meet the Physical Environment requirements detailed in Quality Area 3 - Physical Environment of the National Quality Standard (NQS), (Schedule 1 of the National Regulations, and related standards in Part 4.3 of the National Regulations.
When making decisions about the design, construction or renovation of amenities services need to consider how the amenity will contribute to meeting related quality areas of the NQS, for example Quality Area 1 - Educational Program and Practice.
Part 7.1 of the National Regulations includes transitional arrangements for physical environment requirements which may also apply to ease the transition for existing services.
|
Until 31 December 2011 |
1 January to May 2012 |
May 2012 |
|---|---|---|---|
Queensland Development Code* |
|
|
|
| National Regulations under National Law (Physical Environments) |
|
|
|
BCA National Building Legislation |
|
|
|
* Services need to comply with the version of the QDC that was relevant to when the building approval application was lodged.
It is important to link with building professionals and regional Early Childhood Officers in considering building implications prior to developing a new service or renovating an existing service.
The Act and the QDC will continue to apply to services that are out-of-scope of the National Law. Out-of-scope services will still need to meet building requirements that are contained within the Act, the Child Care Regulation 2003 (the Regulation) and the QDC.
The national building standards for education and care services contained in the BCA will include:
The draft changes for the BCA were made available for public comment in mid 2011. View these proposed changes on the Australian Building Codes Board website .
The National Regulations including the NQS outline physical environment requirements for centre-based and family day care services (part 103 - 110 of the National Regulations). These requirements include:
There are additional requirements for centre based services (part 111 - 115 of the National Regulations) which include:
Additional provisions exist for FDC services (part 116 - 117 of the National Regulations) including:
In order to ease the transition to the new requirements for existing services some physical environment requirements will not apply to some services. This includes services that were not required to comply with similar requirements under the previous legislation (such as vacation care) unless the service's premise or FDC residence is renovated, the service approval is transferred or theFDC educator is no longer engaged at the service.
These requirements relate to fencing and security, outdoor space - shade and the design of the premise to ensure adequate supervision.
In addition to this the National Law also provides for two types of exemptions from meeting the physical environment requirements in the National Regulations:
For example, where a service is unable to meet a physical environment requirement of the National Regulations (for example, fencing or appropriate shaded area), the Approved Provider could apply for a temporary waiver.
Services with waivers or exemptions under the transitional provisions must display the details of the waivers and/or exemptions at the service.
The design and layout of an early childhood education and care environment can have a significant impact on the delivery of education and care programs and practices.
When making decisions about the design, construction or renovation of amenities, consideration should be given to how the amenity will contribute to meeting all seven of the quality areas outlined in the NQS.
This page was last reviewed on 03 Jan 2012 at 05:53PM
Copyright |
Disclaimer |
Privacy |
Access keys |
Other languages
© The State of Queensland (Department of Education, Training and Employment) 2011.
