What to do if you have concerns

If you have a concern about a centre you have every right to raise your concerns and have them addressed.

Carers, parents and their environment are the three main ingredients in making a crucial difference to the experience for the child.

If one of the elements is not right then there may be concerns and/or issues.

How do you go about raising these concerns?

In most instances you would first speak with the service. You would raise your concerns with the lead staff or the centre management, usually the director. Generally, the concerns will be addressed appropriately and the status quo will be restored.

If however, they are not addressed, are not taken seriously in your opinion or you have more serious concerns in relation to the service, more particularly the health and safety or regulatory requirements of a service then your steps are different.

There is a process for raising your concerns about a service.

If you think a child care centre is in breach of regulatory requirements (for example, it’s short-staffed, or the building is unsafe) you can raise your concerns with the state or territory body that licenses the centre.

Quality care is more than just providing care.

It’s the interactions of the staff with the children, the relationships, the experiences, etc.

Child care is accountable in many ways such as the Code of Ethics, the National Quality Framework and National Quality Standards. It must adhere to these, however, all this is immaterial if you are not happy with a centre and do not feel your child is receiving quality care or there is a concern.

Striving to provide quality care is an ongoing process for any and every centre.

1. While if may be awkward you should first raise any concerns or issues you have with the centre directly. Depending upon the concern it may involve discussing with the Director only, although other instances may provide the opportunity to discuss with the staff first. If you feel your concerns have not been addressed then you can request a meeting to further discuss and establish their action plan to address the issue.
2. If you are not satisfied or you have serious concerns then you must contact your local regulatory authority for your state or territory. There are differing authorities for each. The best and first port of call would be  to access this information for the contact details is Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) website.