48AAdditional conditions for continued approval for approved providers of in home care services

#### 48A Additional conditions for continued approval for approved providers of in home care services (1) For section 195E of the Family Assistance Administration Act, this section sets out conditions for continued approval for a provider in respect of an IHC service. Commitment to high quality child care (2) The provider must, in the opinion of the Secretary, be equipped to provide high quality child care at the service appropriate to the needs of families and the community having regard to the provider’s ability and commitment to: (a) develop and provide an education program that: acknowledges and strengthens the cultural identity of all children to whom care is provided; and provides tailored, individual learning goals that are based on each child’s knowledge, ideas, culture, abilities and interests; and is based on, and delivered in accordance with, an approved learning framework; and (c) ensure children are adequately supervised at all times; and (d) ensure reasonable precautions are taken to protect children from harm or injury and any hazard likely to cause harm or injury; and (e) ensure that the needs for sleep and rest of children are met, including the need for safe sleep practices, having regard to the ages, developmental stages and individual needs of the children; and (f) do anything else the Secretary considers necessary or appropriate for the provision of high quality child care. Serious incidents (3) The provider must implement appropriate arrangements to manage serious incidents (see subsection (4)). (4) For the purposes of subsection (3), serious incident has the same meaning as in paragraph 46AA(b). Notification (4A) The provider must notify the Secretary in writing within 24 hours after: a serious incident occurs; or a circumstance occurs that could have resulted in the occurrence of a serious incident; or (c) the provider receives a complaint in respect of a child care service of the provider alleging that a serious incident has occurred or is occurring; or (d) any incident occurs where the provider reasonably believes that physical or sexual abuse of a child or children has occurred or is occurring while the child or children are being educated and cared for by a child care service of the provider; or (e) the provider receives an allegation that physical or sexual abuse of a child or children has occurred or is occurring while the child or children are being educated and cared for by a child care service of the provider. (4B) For the purposes of subsection (4A), serious incident has the same meaning as in paragraph 46AA(b). Insurance (5) The provider must, at all times, have in place the following insurance policies: (a) workers compensation insurance in relation to the relevant IHC service as required by law; and (b) a current policy of insurance providing adequate cover for the relevant IHC service against public liability with a minimum cover of $10,000,000. Number of children who can be cared for (6) A provider of an IHC service must ensure that, whenever care is being provided by an IHC service: (a) there is at least one IHC educator for any group of up to five children; and (b) for any group of children referred to in paragraph (a), no more than four children are of preschool age or under (within the meaning of the Education and Care Services National Regulations). Nomination of child in respect to whom individual is eligible (7) Where a provider nominates a child for the purposes of subsection 15A(1) of these Rules, the nomination must be made in accordance with any preference expressed by the individual who would be eligible for CCS or ACCS in respect of that child, or their partner. Home safety assessments and checks (8) Before an IHC service provides its first session of care at a particular location, the provider of the IHC service must conduct a home safety assessment of the location. (9) Before each session of care provided by an IHC service at a particular location, the provider of the IHC service must ensure that a safety check of the location is conducted. Engagement with IHC Support Agencies (10) A provider of an IHC service must: (aa) register with the IHC Support Agency of each State and Territory in which it provides an IHC service; and (a) only enrol a child for care after receiving a referral from an IHC Support Agency; and (b) inform an IHC Support Agency when a child ceases to be enrolled at the service within 7 days of the cessation; and (c) otherwise provide reasonable assistance to and cooperate with an IHC Support Agency; and (d) comply with any reasonable requests for information from the IHC Support Agency. > Note: The In Home Care National Guidelines could in 2020 be viewed on the Department’s website. (11) In this section: > approved learning framework means a learning framework approved and in operation under the Education and Care Services National Law and the Education and Care Services National Regulations; > home safety assessment means a structured evaluation of a location to identify hazards and address risks to children’s health, safety and wellbeing. > safety check means a brief, documented inspection of a location to ensure the environment remains safe and suitable for children.