As of today, 01st March 2023, new regulatory requirements will apply to centre-based services that provide regular transportation, which includes mandatory notifying the regulatory authority that your service provides or arranges regular transportation, the service to account for all children as they embark and disembark at the service premises and keep a record of how each child was accounted for and more.
Serious incidents have occurred when children get on or off vehicles and are checked into or out of the service. Most notably, when a child has been left alone inside a parked vehicle, or a child did not arrive at the service as expected and staff were unsure if the child had ever been in the vehicle.
What Are The Changes
These changes only apply to centre-based services and relate to:
- approved provider nominated supervisor, staff and driver responsibilities
- a staff member or nominated supervisor (other than the driver) being present at the service to account for all children as they embark and disembark at the service premises and keep a record of how each child was accounted for
- a check of the interior of the vehicle to ensure there are no children left behind
- mandatory notification to the regulatory authority when regular transportation starts being provided or arranged by the service or ceases
Updated staff responsibilities for regular transportation conducted by centre-based services include:
A nominated supervisor or a staff member (other than the driver) must:
- be present when children embark and disembark a vehicle at the service premises
- account for each child when they embark and disembark a vehicle at the service premises »
- complete a check of the interior of the vehicle after all children have disembarked at the service premises to ensure there are no children left in the vehicle.
A $2000 penalty applies for failing to meet these requirements.
Note: Services must ensure that the number of educators or other responsible adults involved in the transportation of children, including when children are embarking or disembarking the vehicle, is adequate, effective and ensures active supervision.
Updated record keeping and accounting for children during regular transportation include:
The approved provider and nominated supervisor must ensure that records are kept for regular transportation that:
- confirm each child was accounted for when embarking and disembarking the vehicle at the service premises
- state how each child was accounted for at the service premises
- state that the interior of the vehicle was checked after all children have disembarked at the service premises
The records must be made immediately and include the time, date, full name and signature of the person/s responsible for:
- accounting for the children during embarking and disembarking of the vehicle
- conducting the vehicle check after the children have disembarked
A $2000 penalty applies for failing to meet these requirements.
Updated mandatory notifications include:
As of today, from 1 March 2023, it will be mandatory to notify the regulatory authority that your service provides or arranges regular transportation. The notification is to be lodged through the NQA IT System.
- The approved provider must notify the regulatory authority in a service approval application, or if the service is already approved, within seven (7) days of regular transportation is provided or arranged by the service.
- The approved provider must notify the regulatory authority within seven (7) days if the service starts or stops providing or arranging regular transportation.
For more information, please read the following: New Transportation Requirements For Centre-based Services From 1 March 2023
