Legal requirements for child care providers in Queensland
Child Safe Organisations Act
From 1 October 2025, Queensland's Child Safe Organisations Act will require organisations that work with children, or provide services or spaces for children, to:
- follow the 10 Child Safe Standards
- apply the Universal Principle to ensure cultural safety for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.
From 1 July 2026, some organisations will also have responsibilities under the Reportable Conduct Scheme to help prevent and respond to abuse or misconduct.
As a child care provider in Queensland, your legal requirements depend on the type of service you offer.
National Quality Framework
Most services are approved and regulated under the National Quality Framework (NQF). These include:
- kindergarten
- long day care
- outside school hours care
- family day care.
Learn more about the requirements for services under the NQF.
Education and Care Service Act
A small number of services are not captured under the NQF and are instead regulated under the Education and Care Services Act 2013 (Qld) (ECS Act). These include:
- limited hours care, funded by the Queensland Government
- occasional care
- certain services, if on 30 June 2018 the service was in receipt of funding under the Budget Based Funding Program (administered by the Australian Government's Department of Education) and the service was not approved for the purposes of the family assistance law
- early childhood education and care services that are also disability services under the Disability Services Act 2006 (Qld)
- stand-alone care services.
Learn more about the requirements for services under the ECS Act.
Unregulated services
Certain types of child care are not regulated in Queensland. Generally, these include, but are not limited to:
- personal arrangements (e.g. care shared by parents or provided by family members)
- care in a child's home
- activity-specific classes, coaching or tuition
- hotel or resort care
- conference, sport facility or shopping centre care
- mobile services
- transition to school programs
- vacation care offered for not more than 4 weeks per year
- care provided by nannies or babysitters.
Also consider...
- Contact your local regional office if you have questions about the NQF, ECS Act, or unregulated services.
- Visit the childcare contacts page for helpful services and hotlines.
- Find information on Queensland Kindergarten Funding.
- Learn more about approved kindergarten programs in Queensland.
- Find out more about scholarships and grants for the child care and education industry.