Primary and Secondary Teachers Now Recognised As ECTs in Early Childhood Services

The ACEQCA Board decided to extend and amend it's transitional measure by enabling primary and secondary teachers to be "recognised as an equivalent ECT" until the end of 2023. 

From 1 January 2022, a person who holds ALL of the following will be recognised as equivalent to an early childhood teacher:

• a primary or secondary teaching qualification
  AND
• teacher registration in Australia (called ‘accreditation’ in New South Wales)
  AND
• an ACECQA approved certificate III level (or higher) early childhood education and care qualification.

If you are a registered/accredited primary or secondary school teacher:

• You will not need to apply to ACECQA once you achieve a qualification on ACECQA's list of approved qualifications as, in combination with your primary or secondary teaching qualification and Australian teacher registration, you will automatically be considered to meet the qualification requirements for an equivalent early childhood teacher.
• If you are a registered/accredited primary or secondary school teacher you may be able to be ‘taken to be an early childhood teacher’ upon starting your approved early childhood education and care qualification.
• Alternatively, you may be able to be recognised as a 'suitably qualified person'. 

If you do not have teacher registration/accreditation:

• You will need to obtain provisional or full teacher registration/accreditation to meet the requirements of an equivalent early childhood teacher under Regulation 137(3). 

Qualification Assessment

if you would like to work as a qualified educator in an approved education and care service in Australia and your qualifications are not on the list of approved qualifications. ACECQA will assess your qualification(s) to determine if it is equivalent to an approved qualification.

ACECQA assesses qualifications against four key areas

1. Academic level
2. Age focus or specialisation
3. Supervised professional experience or work placement
4. Curriculum content

Each qualification must meet all four areas to meet ACECQA’s requirements

If your application is successful, you will be able to work as a qualified educator in an approved education and care service in Australia. Depending on the outcome of your application, you may be able to work as an:

• Early childhood teacher (ECT)
• Diploma level educator
• Certificate III level educator.

Note: A successful determination by ACECQA does not guarantee teacher registration or a job in Australia. This process is also not for the purpose of, or related to, any migration or visa application process within Australia

What is the application fee?

The National Law requires the application fee be paid before ACECQA can assess an application. An application is not complete until the fee has been paid. The fee is set by the National Regulations. The application fee is currently AUD$114.

How long does the assessment take?

ACECQA is committed to completing your assessment within 60 days from receiving all the information we require. If your application is missing information or documents, then the application process will be delayed

For more information: Qualification Assessment Guidelines For Individuals

This transitional measure when reviewed by the ACECQA Board in June 2021 focussed on the following:

• Achieving a balance between the ongoing goal of building a highly skilled workforce while recognising persistent and increasingly urgent issues with the attraction, supply and retention of early childhood teachers (particularly in regional and remote areas)

• The ongoing impact of the global COVID-19 pandemic, including the restrictions on skilled migration for overseas trained early childhood teachers

• The recent changes to the national children’s education and care training package, including the inclusion of specific skills and knowledge, such as early childhood theorists, developmental milestones and play based pedagogy, in the new Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care

• The extension of Regulation 242 (‘Persons taken to be early childhood teachers’) of the Education and Care Services National Regulations in most jurisdictions until the end of 2023.

Based on these deliberations, the ACECQA Board decided to extend and amend its transitional measure until the end of 2023. 

After the end of 2023, this transitional measure is scheduled to cease, however individuals who have obtained this combination of qualifications before the end of 2023 will continue to be recognised under this provision.

Reference:
Recognition As An ‘Equivalent Early Childhood Teacher’, ACECQA