Infection control and immunisation policy

This policy provides guidelines and procedures for managing, minimising and preventing the spread of infectious diseases and illnesses at Early Learning Victoria centres.

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Early Learning Victoria provides a safe and healthy environment for everyone at its centres.

A clear policy on immunisation and controlling infectious diseases is an important part of this.

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

This policy provides clear guidelines and procedures for:

  • when a child attending an Early Learning Victoria centre shows symptoms of an infectious disease
  • when a child attending an Early Learning Victoria centre has been diagnosed with an infectious disease and must be excluded in line with the Public Health and Wellbeing Regulations 2019
  • managing and minimising the spread of infectious diseases, illnesses and infestations (including head lice)
  • managing and minimising infections relating to blood-borne viruses
  • managing and minimising infections relating to epidemics and pandemics (e.g. COVID-19).

All staff at Early Learning Victoria centres are committed to:

  • preventing the spread of infectious diseases, illness and infestations through good hygiene practices, proper glove use and environmental cleaning
  • maintaining immunisation records
  • following exclusion guidelines for any unwell or symptomatic children.

2.1 Requirements

Early Learning Victoria must follow the Education and Care Services National Law Act 2010 (the National Law) and Education and Care Services National Regulations 2011 (the Regulations).

Under the National Law and Regulations, Early Learning Victoria must:

  • take reasonable steps to prevent the spread of infectious diseases
  • notify parents or an emergency contact of all enrolled children about any infectious disease, illness or infestation at the centre. This must be done as soon as possible
  • keep families informed about any disease or illness outbreaks through clear email communication. Current information* should also be displayed at the entrance to the centre
  • notify the Regulatory Authority as required if an outbreak of an infectious disease poses a risk to the health, safety or wellbeing of children attending the Early Learning Victoria centre.

* This should include the name of the infectious disease, illness or infestation; the number of cases or suspected cases and the exclusion period, along with a factsheet and any other relevant information (see Links).

2.2 Background and information

Early Learning Victoria is committed to minimising the spread of infectious diseases. We do this by following:

We are guided by the Victorian Department of Health and Local Public Health Units about exclusion periods and notifications of infectious diseases. This is in line with the Public Health and Wellbeing Act 2008.

Early Learning Victoria supports the National Immunisation Program, as recommended by the NHMRC and supported by the Commonwealth Government. We also enforce the Australian Government Department of Health’s No Jab No Play policy.

3. Actions and procedures

What to do if a child seems sick

  • If a child is not well enough to take part in activities, centre staff must contact a parent, carer or emergency contact and have them collect the child. (Isolate the sick child from the other children in the meantime, if possible.)
  • Monitor the child to make sure they don’t get worse.

Call an ambulance immediately (000) if a child develops any of the following serious symptoms (or if there are any other concerns for the safety or wellbeing of the child):

  • breathing difficulty – the child may be breathing very quickly or noisily or look pale or blue around the mouth. The child may be working hard to breathe, with the muscles between the ribs or at the base of the neck being drawn in with each breath
  • drowsiness or unresponsiveness – the child is less alert, sleepier than normal or difficult to wake from sleep. Or, they may not be responding as they usually do (e.g. making less eye contact than usual, or showing less interest in their surroundings than usual)
  • poor circulation – the child looks very pale, and their hands and feet feel cold or look blue

For further information, see the Incident, injury, trauma and illness policy and the Staying healthy guidelines.

Monitoring case numbers and spread

It is important to monitor the number of cases of infectious diseases at any Early Learning Victoria centre. It is also important to identify any patterns in how the infection is spreading and explain this to staff and educators.

Information to track can include:

  • daily case numbers
  • symptoms
  • duration of illness.

This information also helps centres know when to report to the Local Public Health Unit.

Reporting outbreaks to the Local Public Health Unit

Outbreaks require immediate attention, investigation and teamwork to control the spread of the disease.

To help prevent or manage a disease outbreak, the nominated supervisor must:

  • contact their Local Public Health Unit (LPHU) for advice. Public health staff can provide valuable advice, support and resources that help manage cases or outbreaks of infectious diseases
  • notify the LPHU within 24 hours of learning about an outbreak of 2 or more cases of gastrointestinal or respiratory illness (e.g. influenza, RSV or COVID-19) in a 72-hour period
  • monitor health alerts and guidelines from the LPHU and the Victorian Department of Health for any advice, and for emergency health management for a contagious illness outbreak
  • subscribe to the Chief Health Officer alerts about current health issues in Victoria
  • notify the Regulatory Authority of any infectious disease at the centre that poses a risk to the health, safety or wellbeing of children attending
  • ensure more rigorous environmental cleaning during outbreaks. See the Hygiene and cleaning policy and recommendations in the Staying healthy guidelines.

Excluding children from the centre

When a child has been diagnosed with an illness or infectious disease, Early Learning Victoria will refer to the Staying healthy guidelines and the Victorian Department of Health’s exclusion table for primary schools and children’s services.

The NHMRC’s factsheet on exclusion periods may help centre staff explain to families why their child needs to be excluded.

Common infectious diseases and illnesses with an exclusion period include:

  • chickenpox – exclude until all blisters have dried (usually at least 5 days after the rash appears in unimmunised children, but may be less in previously immunised children)
  • conjunctivitis – exclude until discharge from eyes has stopped
  • diarrhoeal illness – in an outbreak of gastroenteritis, exclude until there has not been vomiting or a loose bowel motion for 48 hours. For all other diarrhoeal illnesses, exclude until there has not been vomiting or a loose bowel motion for 24 hours
  • hand, foot and mouth disease – exclude until all blisters have dried
  • influenza and influenza-like illnesses – exclude until well.

For children with cold or flu-like symptoms or vomiting or diarrhoea:

  • the nominated supervisor must contact the family and arrange for the child to be collected (if the child becomes ill at the centre)
  • families should be encouraged to seek medical attention if needed
  • sick children should have limited contact with others and stay at home until symptoms have passed.

Notifying families about outbreaks of infectious disease

It is important to keep families informed about any outbreak at an Early Learning Victoria centre.

The nominated supervisor must email all families, including:

  • the name of the infectious disease, illness or infestation
  • the number of cases or suspected cases
  • the exclusion period
  • the last date of attendance of the sick child/children
  • a factsheet (see Links).

They must also:

  • make sure there is a clear notice at the centre’s entrance with the above information
  • make sure this notice is kept up to date
  • make sure Kidsoft is kept up to date.
Head lice

Head lice are tiny insects that live and breed in hair. Nits are the eggs of head lice.

Head lice cannot fly. Instead, they spread by crawling from one person to another.

Itching is the most common sign of head lice. It is important to treat head lice to stop them from spreading. The two main ways to get rid of head lice are wet combing with conditioner or using chemical treatments.

To stop the spread of head lice, children’s hair should be checked regularly. Any head lice or nits must be treated as soon as possible.

While head lice do not spread disease, they are included in the Victorian Department of Health’s exclusion periods table for primary schools and children’s services. If a child has head lice, they must be excluded from the centre until the day after appropriate treatment has started.

Families must:

  • keep their child at home if they have head lice and treat them straight away (pharmacists can give advice)
  • make sure all live lice and eggs are removed
  • check for head lice in other family members
  • check for lice every 2 days until no lice or eggs are found for 10 days in a row
  • collect their child if head lice are found while the child is attending the centre, and begin treatment
  • make sure the child does not return to the centre until the day after starting appropriate head lice treatment.
Blood-borne viruses

Blood-borne viruses are spread when blood from an infected person enters another person’s blood stream. They include hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV (see Definitions). The risk of contracting blood-borne viruses (BBV) is very small.

Staff have a duty of care to provide first aid to children with BBV. They need to follow standard precautions to prevent transmission of BBV and body fluids (see Procedures for infection prevention and control relating to BBV and body fluids (273KB, DOCX)).

Epidemics and pandemics

The words ‘epidemic’ and ‘pandemic’ both describe large disease outbreaks. But while an epidemic is local, a pandemic is global. Recent examples in Victoria include the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the COVID-19 pandemic.

During epidemics or pandemics, it is crucial that all staff follow the guidelines set by health authorities.

Ventilation

Ventilating (airing out) indoor spaces reduces the risk of spreading airborne infectious diseases.

It is very important to ventilate areas where educators and children spend a lot of time. This is especially true in high-risk times such as winter, when the spread of airborne diseases usually peaks.

To reduce the risk of catching or passing on airborne infectious diseases:

  • increase the use of outdoor learning areas whenever possible
  • minimise the use of indoor areas that can’t be ventilated with outside air
  • maximise fresh air flow into all indoor spaces by opening windows and doors
  • if bad weather means windows and doors can’t be open all day, consider opening them for a short time – for example, for 10 minutes every hour.

Cleaning and maintenance

Good cleaning and maintenance are key to lowering the risk of infectious diseases and illnesses.

All Early Learning Victoria centres, including their furniture and equipment, are kept safe, clean and in good repair.

Each centre has set cleaning arrangements and service plans. These clearly outline daily, weekly, quarterly and annual cleaning and sanitising requirements and responsibilities.

Early Learning Victoria central office works with the nominated supervisor to set up and maintain these arrangements through the Department of Education’s cleaning contracts.

As well as contracted cleaners, educators and centre staff play a vital role. They spot clean and attend to accidents and spills as quickly as possible, both inside and outside.

See the Hygiene and cleaning policy for further information.

Immunisation for children

Immunisation is a reliable way to prevent many infectious diseases.

All parents or carers planning to enrol their child must give Early Learning Victoria a current Immunisation History Statement from the Australian Immunisation Register. The statement must show that the child is up to date with all vaccinations that are due for their age.

Once enrolled, parents or carers need to provide an updated Immunisation History Statement whenever their child receives or was due to receive immunisation/s.

See No Jab No Play – Better Health Channel for further information. Resources in languages other than English are available.

Immunisation for staff

It is highly recommended that Early Learning Victoria centre staff keep up to date with all immunisations. This includes yearly influenza vaccinations and vaccinations recommended by the NHMRC.

Staff must give centre management an Immunisation History Statement from the Australian Immunisation Register and/or records from their GP for their staff record.

Vaccination is important: staff are not only at risk of catching serious disease, but also of passing it on to pregnant colleagues or children in their care. This includes children who are too young to have had their vaccinations.

3.1 Responsibilities of families

Families must:

  • give the centre information about their child’s medical conditions when they enrol. This includes if their child has a blood-borne virus (see the Enrolment and orientation policy and the Management of medical conditions policy and procedure)
  • give the centre evidence of their child’s immunisation (their Australian Immunisation Register record). This must be done at enrolment and for each new immunisation
  • keep their child at home if there is an infectious disease at the centre and their child is not fully immunised against it
  • inform staff if their child is diagnosed with an infectious disease, including COVID-19, or has been in contact with a person who has an infectious disease
  • comply with entry restrictions at Early Learning Victoria centres during an outbreak of an infectious disease or virus.

Families must also tell staff if their child has had any medication, including paracetamol (Panadol) or ibuprofen (Nurofen) before coming to the Early Learning Victoria centre. If their child is unwell or have an excludable infectious disease they must stay at home. (See NHMRC’s factsheet on exclusion periods and the Victorian Department of Health’s exclusion periods table for primary schools and children’s services.)

Families must keep the centre fully informed of their child’s symptoms, diagnosis, treatment and recovery if they are sent home or absent because they have an infectious disease, illness or infestation. They must also do this if their child has been in contact with a person infected with a condition that triggers exclusion of the child from the service (as a ‘contact’).

If Early Learning Victoria has not been given sufficient information about the child’s health status, or if a child becomes sick during care, a member of staff will contact the family.

3.2 Responsibilities of staff

4. Resources

Legislation and standards

  • Education and Care Services National Law Act 2010
  • Education and Care Services National Regulations 2011
  • Health Records Act 2001
  • National Quality Standard, Quality area 2: Children’s health and safety
  • National Quality Standard, Quality area 6: Collaborative partnerships with families and communities
  • Occupational Health and Safety Act 2004
  • Public Health and Wellbeing Act 2008
  • Public Health and Wellbeing Amendment (No Jab No Play) Act 2015
  • Public Health and Wellbeing Regulations 2019
  • Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014
  • Privacy Act 1988

Related policies

  • Administration of first aid policy and procedure
  • Administering medication procedure
  • Child safety and wellbeing policy
  • Eating and drinking: health, nutrition and food safety policy and procedure
  • Enrolment and orientation policy
  • Hygiene and cleaning policy
  • Incident, injury, trauma and illness policy
  • Management of medical conditions policy
  • Privacy policy

Definitions

Blood-borne virus (BBV): A virus that is spread when blood from an infected person enters another person’s bloodstream. BBVs include human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B and hepatitis C. Where basic hygiene, safety, infection prevention and control and first aid procedures are followed, the risks of contracting a blood-borne virus are negligible.

Cough etiquette: The correct way to prevent the spread of infectious organisms that are carried in droplets of saliva is to cough or sneeze into the inner elbow or to use a tissue to cover the mouth and nose. Place all tissues in the rubbish bin immediately and clean hands with either soap and water or a disinfectant hand rub.

Exclusion: Inability to attend or participate in centre programs.

Illness: Any sickness and/or associated symptoms that affect the child’s normal participation in the program at the service.

Infection: The invasion and multiplication of micro-organisms in bodily tissue.

Infectious disease: An infectious disease designated by the Communicable Disease Section, Department of Health Victoria, as well as those listed in Schedule 7 of the Public Health and Wellbeing Regulations 2019, the Minimum Period of Exclusion from Primary Schools, Education and Care Service Premises and Children’s Centres for Infectious Diseases Cases and Contacts.

Infestation: The lodgement, development and reproduction of arthropods (such as head lice), either on the surface of the body of humans or animals, or in clothing.

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.

Minimum exclusion period: The Public Health and Wellbeing Regulations 2019 contain several statutory obligations relating to primary schools and children’s services exclusion for infectious diseases. An infringement penalty for failure to exclude a child with, or exposed to, a specified infectious disease applies (applicable to a person in charge). The exclusion period table is published by the Department of Health.

Serious incident: For the purposes of the definition of ‘serious incident’ in section 5(1) of the National Law, each of the following is prescribed as a serious incident:

  1. the death of a child:
    • while that child is being educated and cared for by an education and care service, or
    • following an incident occurring while that child was being educated and cared for by an education and care service
  2. any incident involving serious injury (such as a broken limb) or trauma to a child occurring while that child is being educated and cared for by an education and care service:
    • which a reasonable person would consider required urgent medical attention from a registered medical practitioner, or
    • for which the child attended, or ought reasonably to have attended, a hospital
  3. any incident involving serious illness of a child occurring while that child is being educated and cared for by an education and care service for which the child attended, or ought reasonably to have attended, a hospital (for instance, for a severe asthma attack, seizure or anaphylaxis reaction)
  4. any emergency which emergency services attended
  5. any circumstance where a child being educated and cared for by an education and care service:
    • appears to be missing or cannot be accounted for, or
    • appears to have been taken or removed from the education and care service premises in a manner that contravenes the Regulations, or
    • is mistakenly locked in or locked out of the education and care service premises or any part of the premises.

Serious symptoms: If a child has any of the following serious symptoms, call an ambulance (000) immediately:

  • breathing difficulty – the child may be breathing very quickly or noisily, or look pale or blue around the mouth. The child may be working hard at breathing, with the muscles between the ribs or at the base of the neck being drawn in with each breath
  • drowsiness or unresponsiveness – the child is less alert, sleepier than normal or difficult to wake from sleep, or they are not responding as they usually do (for example, making less eye contact than usual, or showing less interest in their surroundings than usual)
  • poor circulation – the child looks very pale, and their hands and feet feel cold or look blue.

Standard precautions: Work practices that achieve a basic level of infection prevention and control. Using standard precautions aims to minimise and, if possible, eliminate the risk of transmission of infection, particularly those caused by blood-borne viruses. Standard precautions include, but are not limited to, hand hygiene, cleaning equipment and the environment, respiratory hygiene and cough etiquette and appropriate use of personal protective equipment.

5. Authorisations and review

This policy is the responsibility of Early Learning Victoria. Contact: ELV@education.vic.gov.au

It was approved by the CEO, Early Learning Victoria on 25 March 2026.

Early Learning Victoria regularly reviews its policies and procedures. This policy is due for review on 25 March 2028 unless changes in legislation or Department of Education policy require it to be reviewed sooner.

Reviewed by Director, Strategy and Planning, Early Learning Victoria; Director, Quality, Early Learning Victoria; and Director, Early Years, Early Learning Victoria.

Education & training

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