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Education and Care Services National Regulations
324Early childhood teachers—preschools
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#### 324 Early childhood teachers—preschools
324 Early childhood teachers—preschools
> > (1) This regulation applies in place of regulation 126 for preschools.
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> > (2) (Repealed)
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> > (3) On and after 1 January 2014—
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> > > (a) the first and second educators required to meet the educator to child ratio for preschool aged children in a government preschool (other than a prescribed preschool) must be early childhood teachers; and
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> > > (b) any other educators who are required to meet the educator to child ratio for preschool aged children in a government preschool (other than a prescribed preschool) must have, or be actively working towards, at least an approved certificate III level education and care qualification.
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> > (4) On and after 1 January 2014—
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> > > (a) the first and third educators required to meet the educator to child ratio for preschool aged children in a prescribed preschool must be early childhood teachers; and
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> > > (b) any other educators who are required to meet the educator to child ratio for preschool aged children in a prescribed preschool must have, or be actively working towards, at least an approved certificate III level education and care qualification.
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> > (4A) If an early childhood teacher is absent from a preschool because of a circumstance specified in subregulation (4C), the following persons may be taken for the purposes of this regulation to be an early childhood teacher during that absence—
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> > > (a) a person who holds an approved diploma level education and care qualification;
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> > > (b) a person who holds a qualification in primary teaching;
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> > > (c) a suitably qualified person.
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> > (4B) To avoid doubt, subregulation (4A) does not apply in case of a period of leave exceeding 12 weeks.
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> > (4C) For the purposes of subregulation (4A), the following circumstances are specified—
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> > > (a) short-term illness;
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> > > (b) the early childhood teacher’s resignation;
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> > > (c) a practicum placement required to be undertaken by the early childhood teacher for an approved education and care qualification;
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> > > (d) leave.
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> > (5) In this regulation—
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> > prescribed preschool means—
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> > > (a) a preschool provided by a school on the site of a school; or
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> > > (b) a rural preschool; or
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> > > (c) a preschool with fewer than 16 children.
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> **Reg 324:** Am 2013 (417), reg 35; 2017 (543), reg 106; 2019 (631), reg 29; 2023 (165), reg 19.