Acceptance and refusal of authorisation policy

Early Learning Victoria is dedicated to developing partnerships with families through all facets of decision-making that affect the education and care of their child. Early Learning Victoria prioritises good governance and ensures that our acceptance and refusal of authorisation processes are effective, transparent and meet regulatory requirements.

1. Scope

This policy applies to children, families, staff, management and visitors of Early Learning Victoria centres. This includes volunteers, students on placement and contractors or labour hire employees of Early Learning Victoria.

2. Policy statement

The purpose of this policy is to:

inform families and centre staff about the activities and actions that require a parent or carer’s authorisation, and the way this is documented before enrolment
inform families about Early Learning Victoria centres' rights to refuse authorisation.

2.1 Requirements

The Education and Care Services National Law Act 2010 (the National Law) and Education and Care Services National Regulations 2011 (the Regulations) require Early Learning Victoria to have policies and procedures in place in relation to the acceptance and refusal of authorisations. Early Learning Victoria must ensure authorisations are obtained from parents or carers in relation to:

administering medication to children
children leaving the premises in the care of the parent, carer or the authorised nominee
excursions and regular outings, including transportation provided or arranged by the centre
seeking medical treatment for children and transportation by an ambulance service.

Other legal requirements or quality practices may also involve authorisations, such as in relation to photos of children and privacy (see the Privacy policy and the Electronic devices and photography policy).

3. Actions and procedures

3.1 Responsibilities of families

It is important for families to provide the different authorisations required for their child during enrolment, including nominating appropriate people for Early Learning Victoria to contact in the case of an emergency and for the drop off and collection of their child from the centre (see the Drop off and collection of children policy and procedure).

Families are responsible for:

completing and signing authorisations in the enrolment record and medication record (if relevant) before their child commences at the Early Learning Victoria centre (see the Enrolment and orientation policy)
completing and signing any authorisations for their child to attend an excursion and/or to be transported by the centre (see the Excursions, incursions and regular outings policy and procedure)
recording their child’s attendance in Kidsoft as their child arrives at and departs from the centre
providing authorisations if children require medication to be administered by staff, and signing and dating this for inclusion in the child’s medication record (see the Administering medication policy and procedure)
ensuring necessary changes are made so authorisations or contact details are always up to date
ensuring the nominated supervisor or centre director is aware of any contact orders prohibiting an adult from contacting their child, and providing a copy of the court orders, to be kept with the child’s enrolment record
being familiar with circumstances where authorisations may be refused/not applicable.

3.2 Responsibilities of staff

All centre staff are responsible for:
- implementing this policy
- ensuring no child is transported by the centre without an authorisation from their parent or carer in the enrolment record (see the Excursions, incursions and regular outings policy and procedure and the Drop off and collection of children policy and procedure)
- ensuring that medication is only administered or self-administered if authorised by:
  - a parent or carer named in the enrolment record as authorised to consent to the administration of medication
  - in an emergency, a registered medical practitioner or an emergency service if the parent or person named in the enrolment record cannot be contacted
- ensuring that in the case of an anaphylaxis or asthma emergency, they are aware that medication can be administered without authorisation, as directed by emergency services or indicated in a medical condition plan (see the Management of medical conditions policy and procedure)
- ensuring that children only leave the premises with a parent or carer, or an authorised nominee named in the enrolment record (see the Drop off and collection of children policy and procedure)
- ensuring children do not leave the centre on an excursion or regular outing unless they have appropriate authorisation (see the Excursions, incursions and regular outings policy and procedure)
- implementing authorisation systems for other legal requirements or quality practices - for example, photos of children and privacy (see the Privacy policy and the Electronic devices and photography policy).
The nominated supervisor and approved provider are also responsible for:
- ensuring the Acceptance and refusal of authorisations policy is implemented
- ensuring that the child’s parent or carer completes and signs authorisations in the enrolment record and medication record (if relevant) before the child commences at the centre (see the Enrolment and orientation policy)
- ensuring staff do not administer medication without the authorisation of a parent or carer, except in the case of an emergency, including an asthma or anaphylaxis emergency (see the Medical conditions: Anaphylaxis and allergies policy and procedure and the Medical conditions: Asthma policy and procedure)
- ensuring authorisations are kept up to date
- ensuring that permission forms for excursions are provided to the parent or carer prior to the excursion (see the Excursions, incursions and regular outings policy and procedure)
- ensuring that an attendance record is maintained to account for all children attending the centre
- ensuring the approved provider is informed when a written authorisation does not meet the requirements outlined in centre policies
- ensuring children depart from the centre only with a person who is the parent/carer or authorised nominee, or with the written authorisation of one of these, except in the case of a medical or other emergency (see the Drop off and collection of children policy and procedure)
- ensuring the centre is aware of any contact orders prohibiting a person from contacting an enrolled child and keeping a copy of the court orders with the child’s enrolment record.

4. Resources

Legislation and standards

Relevant legislation and standards include:

Children, Youth and Families Act 2005
Child Wellbeing and Safety Act 2005
Education and Care Services National Law Act 2010
Education and Care Services National Regulations 2011
Family Law Act 1975

Administration of first aid policy and procedure
Administering medication policy and procedure
Child safety and wellbeing policy
Drop off and collection of children policy and procedure
Emergency management and evacuation policy
Enrolment and orientation policy
Excursions, incursions and regular outings policy and procedure
Incident, injury, trauma, and illness policy
Governance and management policy
Management of medical conditions policy and procedure
Medical conditions: Anaphylaxis and allergies policy and procedure
Medical conditions: Asthma policy and procedure

Definitions

Attendance record: Kept by the service to record details of each child attending the service, including their name, time of arrival and departure, and the signature of the person delivering and collecting the child or of the nominated supervisor or educator.

Authorised nominee: A person who has been given written authority by the parent or carer of a child to collect that child from the education and care service. These details will be on the child’s enrolment form.

Excursion: An outing organised by an education and care service or family day care educator. This does not include an outing organised by an education and care service provided on a school site if:

the child or children leave the education and care service premises in the company of an educator; and
the child or children do not leave the school site.

Medication: Medicine within the meaning of the Therapeutic Goods Act 1989. Medicine includes prescription, over-the-counter and complementary medicines. All therapeutic goods in Australia are listed on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods, available at Therapeutic Goods Administration.

Parent or carer: In relation to a child, can include:

a parent of the child
a person who has parental responsibility for the child under a decision or order of a court
a guardian of the child
any person with whom the child ordinarily resides.

Regular outing: In relation to an education and care service, this means a walk, drive or trip to and from a destination:

that the service visits regularly as part of its educational program; and
where the circumstances relevant to the risk assessment are the same on each outing - for example, the same location, same number of children and/or the same activities for each outing.

Transport: Transportation forms part of an education and care service if the service remains responsible for children during the period of transportation. The responsibility for, and duty of care owed to, children applies in scenarios where services are transporting children, or have arranged for the transportation of children, between an education and care service premises and another location, for example their home, school, or a place of an excursion or regular outing.

Education

Updated 4 June 2025