Clarification: Guidelines for Authorised Officers when visiting services

Thanks to some of the members of the Australian Childcare Alliance (ACA) NSW, especially during COVID-19, the NSW Department of Education has released its guidelines for Authorised Officers when they visit services.

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Members can refer to the original text of the following via the NSW Department of Education's webpage.

Authorised officers visiting services

We need to continue service visits to check regulatory compliance and protect children's safety and wellbeing.

All visits will be made by appointment unless:

  • we become aware of an urgent or high-risk situation
  • a serious incident occurs within a service.

All authorised officers follow best practice hygiene and current health advice. Read more in our guidelines below.

Guidelines for authorised officers visiting services

The following guidelines list some of the extra precautions that the department’s authorised officers are taking when planning a visit to your service:

  • Officers are required to monitor the latest health advice and changes to restrictions as they emerge, and in consultation with their manager ensure that their work plans continue to reflect the current situation.
  • Officers who have attended identified hotspots, are required to self-isolate for 14 days and not conduct service visits.
  • Officer’s visits are currently scheduled based on their home location and they will not be flying or travelling long distances to conduct visits.
  • All officers are currently working from home when not completing service visits, and not attending offices to further minimise risk.
  • Officers are provided with PPE such as hand sanitiser to use before, during and after service visits. Officers have also been provided with face masks if your service requires them to use one.
  • All visits should be made by appointment, except in urgent or high risk situations. Officers will plan how the visit will be conducted with the Approved Provider/Nominated Supervisor in line with the service’s COVID-19 protocols.
  • The Officer will follow any additional precautions that your service has in place (for example, hand washing, temperature checks, or travel declarations).
  • If you have a COVID-19 declaration which all visitors to your service must read and sign, the Officer will sign this. Our Officers need to comply with any requirements services have established to minimise risk.
  • Where possible, officers are required to spread out the frequency of visits to minimise risk of transmission between services.
  • Where possible, visits will be arranged for the least busy times for your service and avoid drop-off and pick-up times. For example, scheduling visits when children will be outside, such as between 10-11am or 2-4pm. Most OSHC visits can be scheduled outside operational times.
  • If an officer feels unwell for any reason they will not be conducting visits and your service will be called and advised. Where possible, the officer will only speak to one person, maintaining social distance, and keeping at least 1.5m from others. If possible, discussions should be undertaken in the outdoor area or another well-ventilated space (avoiding small office spaces).

In addition to the above guidelines, for assessment and rating visits:

  • Officers may request temporary access to any online platforms that your service uses for communicating with parents, so this can be assessed prior to the visit.
  • Officers may make an appointment with the Educational Leader 2-3 days prior to the visit to discuss the program via phone or video call.
  • The focus of the visit will be to observe practice and routines, and where possible will avoid heavy traffic times such as drop-off and pick-up times.
  • Shorter visits over 2 days are preferred (this will also depend on service size).
  • During the visit, time will be divided between observations and discussions.
  • Closing discussions will be kept short, with a follow up video meeting or phone conference if convenient.

If you have any further questions, please contact the Department’s Information and Enquiries team on 1800 619 113 or at ececd@det.nsw.edu.au.

Should ACA NSW members require any further information/clarification, or if they would like to provide feedback/complaint about an Authorised Officer (see offer from NSW Department of Education published on 8 September 2020), please contact ACA NSW on 1300 556 330 or nsw@childcarealliance.org.au. 

PUBLISHED: 20 OCTOBER 2020