Regulatory role
The Quality Assessment and Regulation Division (QARD) is the integrated sector regulator of the Child Safe Standards for early childhood services.
We:
- use our powers under the following laws to monitor and enforce compliance with the Standards
- Education and Care Services National Law (National Law), and
- the Children’s Services Act 1996
- monitor compliance with the Child Safe Standards as an integrated part of our regulatory approach, including when we visit services
- collaborate with
- the Commission for Children and Young People (CCYP) and
- other sector regulators where organisations operate in more than one sector.
The CCYP is the regulator of the Child Safe Standards for organisations that do not have a specified sector regulator.
Where an organisation operates in more than one sector
Every organisation that must comply with the Standards has a ‘sector regulator’:
- QARD for all early childhood services
- the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority for:
- schools (government and independent), and
- registered training organisations
- the Department of Health for Maternal and Child Health services.
Where there are multiple regulators QARD collaborates with the other regulator, or CCYP.
Monitoring compliance with the Child Safe Standards
We monitor compliance with the Child Safe Standards at the same time as we monitor compliance with the other laws that regulate early childhood services.
Read about how we monitor compliance in early childhood services.
Enforcing compliance with the Child Safe Standards
We enforce compliance with the Child Safe Standards in the same way as we enforce compliance with other laws that regulate early childhood services.
Read about how we enforce compliance in early childhood services.
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