Service approvals and amendments

Approved providers may look to submit service approvals and/or amendments before the end of the year. The Education Standards Board wish to remind you that these processes adhere to legislative timeframes and may not be completed before the new year.

Below are the legislative timeframes for:

• service approval
• amendment of service approval
• transfer of service approval
• incomplete applications and requests for further information.

Details on what is being assessed and considered in each application is available here.

Service approval

A decision must be made within 90 calendar days of the regulatory authority receiving a complete application. This period may be extended with the applicant’s agreement. There is no limit on how long this may be if the applicant agrees. If more information is requested, the time taken to provide it is not included in the 90-day period, referred to as Stopping the Clock (extract from the Guide to the NQF).

Amendment of service approval

A decision must be made within 60 calendar days of the regulatory authority receiving a complete application.

Transfer of service approval

The transferring and receiving approved providers must jointly notify the regulatory authority of the transfer at least 60 calendar days before it is intended to take effect and specify the intended transfer date.

The regulatory authority may agree in exceptional circumstances to a shorter notification period as below:

• consider if the situation is unusual, not typical – that is, one that cannot ordinarily be planned for. For example:
  • where a management committee must be dissolved suddenly
  • a transferring approved provider has gone into liquidation or receivership
  • the transferring approved provider wants to disband/dissolve the legal entity
  • the approved provider is ill and no longer able to operate the service, and it is in the best interests of the children at the service to ensure continuity by transferring the service to a new approved provider.
• determine the safety, health and wellbeing of children at the service are at risk (for example, continuity of care becomes compromised).

Incomplete applications

If an application does not include all the prescribed information, the regulatory authority may treat the application as invalid. The timeframe for processing an application does not begin until an application is complete and therefore valid.

Request for additional information

When the regulatory authority requests additional information to assess the application, the period between making the request and receiving the requested information is not included in the legislative assessment period and the clock is stopped. When the information is received and assessed as adequate/sufficient the legislative clock starts again. The assessing officer then works to the amended due date.

It is also important to remember to be ready for a regulatory officer to visit for pre-approval. This means ensuring building works are completed, resources are in place and staffing is considered.