Child Care Provider Approval Application Checklist

Use the legal entity that will carry responsibility for operating the proposed service. Reconcile the entity name, registered details, principal office, authorised contacts and ownership information across corporate records and the application.

Document why the chosen entity is appropriate and who can bind it. An unexplained mismatch between the business structure, governance chart and nominated decision-makers creates avoidable questions.

Create a governance map before completing person-level forms. ACECQA explains that a person with management or control may sit inside or outside the applicant entity and may include someone from a third-party management company or a volunteer.

Record the function, decision rights and influence of each person. Do not rely only on job titles. Keep a signed internal determination showing how the definition was considered.

Review every prescribed declaration carefully and disclose relevant matters accurately. Supporting evidence should be current, legible and consistent with the application. Where a matter needs explanation, prepare a clear chronology and evidence of resolution or controls rather than leaving the regulator to infer context.

Fitness and propriety is not limited to a police check. Regulatory guidance identifies compliance history, criminal history, bankruptcy and other matters that may affect capacity to meet legal responsibilities.

Knowledge preparation should cover how an approved provider would make decisions, supervise compliance and respond to risk. Study the relationship between the National Law, National Regulations, NQS, approved learning frameworks and regulator powers.

ACECQA's opening-a-new-service resources state that new approved provider applicants need to complete specified National Law and Child Care Subsidy Approval Course modules for a completion certificate. Check the current course and your regulator's submission instructions when preparing.