What Licences and Approvals Do You Need?
Before you can buy a Child Care Centre business, you will need to have a Provider Approval. After you contract to purchase a Childcare Centre, one of the contract conditions will be that the sale is subject to a Service Approval Transfer. Although you may have a Provider Approval, you will again come under scrutiny as part of the Service Approval Transfer with the regulator in your state. You cannot apply for a Service Approval Transfer until you have a Provider Approval. A Provider Approval fully complete with all required documents included can still take up to 60 days or longer before it is approved or declined. Please also be aware that being granted a Provider Approval does not guarantee that the department will approve the Service Approval Transfer. We have experienced instances where persons with Provider Approvals have been called into the department as part of the Service Approval Transfer process and put through a written test on the regulations. We are aware of cases where the department has refused the transfer as they have not been satisfied with the knowledge of the incoming buyers seeking the Service Transfer Approval. This is becoming particularly problematic in New South Wales and Victoria. We have not heard of this occurring in other states as yet. Queensland will call in Approved Providers for a verbal interview or test; however, it is probable that they will also fall in line with the other states and do this at some stage in the future. We recommend anybody seriously interested in acquiring a childcare centre who does not have a Provider Approval, should make an application. The Approval is valid for two years.
All of the application and notification forms required can be found via this link https://www.acecqa.gov.au/resources/applications.
You will find some useful links to documents on the National Quality Framework, National Law and National Regulations via this link https://www.acecqa.gov.au/nqf/about