Thinking About Starting a Child Care Centre? Here’s What You Need to Know (And How We Can Help)
Starting your own child care centre is an exciting and rewarding journey, but it also comes with its fair share of planning, paperwork, and pressure. From compliance requirements to staffing, curriculum to community engagement, there’s a lot to think about before you open your doors.
At Early Learning Advisory Group, we specialise in supporting new and aspiring providers to navigate the process with confidence and clarity. Whether you're starting from scratch or transitioning an existing service, we’re here to guide you every step of the way.
Here are a few key things to consider when starting your centre:
1. Understand the Regulations
It’s essential to familiarise yourself with the National Quality Framework (NQF), including the Education and Care Services National Law and Regulations, the National Quality Standard (NQS), and the ACECQA assessment and rating process. We can help you break this down in plain language and apply it practically.
2. Location, Layout, and Licensing
Finding the right premises — or designing your own — is a big step. We can help you ensure that your space meets the requirements, ratios, and safety standards for both indoor and outdoor areas. We also support you throughout the service approval process and assist you in preparing documentation for regulatory authorities.
3. Staffing and Qualifications
You’ll need to recruit educators who meet the qualifications and ratio requirements for your service type. But it’s about more than just compliance — we help you build a team culture that reflects your values and supports quality outcomes for children.
4. Policies, Procedures, and Programming
Before you open, you’ll need a comprehensive set of policies and procedures that align with regulations and work effectively in real-life situations. Our team can support you with customised documents, programming tools, and planning templates that help your educators hit the ground running.
5. Business and Brand Building
Running a child care centre is also running a business. We help you with business planning, budgeting, marketing, enrolment strategies, and community engagement so your centre is not only compliant but also sustainable and thriving.
How the Early Learning Advisory Group Can Support You:
We offer a complete startup support package that includes:
Step-by-step guidance through the service approval process
Customised policy and procedure development
Centre setup checklists and compliance audits
Staff recruitment support and induction planning
Programming tools aligned with the EYLF and NQS
Business, marketing, and enrolment advice
Ongoing mentorship and coaching for new providers
Whether you’re just dreaming or already drafting floor plans, we’re here to help you bring your vision to life with confidence and care.
👉 Ready to start your journey? Contact us today to book a consultation and get your centre off the ground the right way.