ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø

In NSW, authorised officers are known as Senior Field Officers, Field Officers and Field Support Officers. Their roles and responsibilities include:

• assessing applications for approval
• conducting assessment and rating visits
• investigating incidents and complaints
• monitoring education and care services and enforcing compliance
• providing advice and guidance, including support from the Continuous Improvement Team
• supporting improvement of quality of ECEC services
• engage with families through management of complaints and incidents
• ensure best-practice regulation is applied consistently by completing regular professional training.

To undertake regulatory activities, authorised officers have powers to enter, inspect and search an education and care service premises or any other business premises to carry out these responsibilities. Each power of entry has specific requirements that must be met for the entry to be considered lawful.

These requirements are set out in of the National Law.

The NSW Early Learning Commission has guiding principles for implementing its functions under the National Law and Regulations. These principles allow for best practice regulation and the use of responsive tools to achieve compliance under the NQF.

These principles are:

• outcomes focused
• risk-based
• transparent
• consistent
• proportionate & fair
• timely
• collaborative
• ethical & accountable.

We also use a number of regulatory policies to support consistent decision making which must be followed by all authorised officers.

Policies specifically related to how authorised officers do their work include the approach to ECEC service visits, approach to compliance and engaging with and supporting families policies.

Authorised officers are regulation and practice experts with the majority of authorised officers in NSW having experience in ECEC, including extensive direct experience in ECEC services across a number of service types. Some authorised officers have experience in related disciplines like education, investigations and child protection.

All authorised officers are assessed against a series of capabilities set for the role and must meet occupation specific requirements to be employed.

These capabilities and requirements are underpinned by the NSW Public Sector Capability Framework which is designed to help attract, develop and retain a responsive and capable sector workforce. It is also a requirement that authorised officers have an understanding of the ECEC sector and maintain knowledge of relevant contemporary knowledge and practice.

Additionally, authorised officers are required to operate in line with the NSW Department of ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø's Code of Conduct and:

• be approachable, fair, respectful and timely in dealings
• listen and communicate respectfully
• clearly explain the purpose of the visit and be clear on what next steps are involved.

Additionally, officers are expected to:

• lead their discussions and communication in a culturally safe manner, including forming respectful relationships with Aboriginal peoples, communities and services
• acknowledge and respect cultural protocols.

All authorised officers employed by the NSW Early Learning Commission who will undertake assessment and rating functions, must participate in intensive training conducted by Australian Children’s ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø & Care Quality Authority (ACECQA).

This training aims to provide national consistency in the application of the authorised officer role, and specific approaches to assessment and rating of service practice against the requirements of the (NQS). This includes content on evidence collection and ‘observe’, ‘discuss’ and ‘sight’ techniques to gather and confirm information that supports the assessment of a service against the NQS, including compliance with the and .

On completion of this training, authorised officers undergo rigorous testing demonstrating they are able to apply a consistent lens before they can assess and rate a service under the .

In addition, authorised officers are required to undergo testing each year to ensure that they haven’t drifted from the nationally consistent approach to assessment and rating.

The national authorised officer training is comprehensive, covers all service types and includes:

• the NQF
• Legislative Framework (National Law and Regulations)
• NQS
• monitoring and compliance
• evidence gathering
• methodology of informed rating decisions
• quality improvement plans and
• engaging and developing relationships with services.

ACECQA also develops professional development training for authorised officers based on sector trends and areas of identified need.

The NSW Early Learning Commission has implemented a comprehensive induction program designed to ensure that authorised officers are thoroughly equipped with the knowledge and skills to effectively fulfill the responsibilities of the role. This includes competence in monitoring compliance, conducting investigations, making informed decisions and recommendations, conducting assessment and rating, as well as proficient report writing.

The Commission provides ongoing and extensive support for all authorised officers in their role which includes participation in state specific training programs, monthly practice sessions, field-based mentoring and targeted training in quality practice and regulatory requirements. This includes external training provided by ANZSOG and other regulatory practice peak bodies.

These training programs integrate learning modules for occupation specific regulatory capabilities alongside competency testing and knowledge assessments. All staff employed by the Commission must complete training tailored to individual roles and capabilities.

BRITTANY

I definitely always thrived when I was around children, and I really loved how their minds work and seeing them thrive. And that's what I love about the authorised officer role, that we still get to experience those interactions with children and service leaders, to really uplift quality outcomes for children.

My name's Brittany, and I'm an authorised officer.

AMANDA

My name is Amanda. I'm a field officer, also known as an authorised officer.

KRYSTY

My name is Krysty, and I am an authorised officer.

BRITTANY

The regulatory authority for the early childhood education and care sector in New South Wales regulates, monitors and supports more than 6,000 ECEC services and authorised officers work within the regulatory authority. Our role is to work with services on their knowledge of the National Law and Regulations, on the National Quality Standards and how their practices align to those requirements.

AMANDA

I work in a hub, and what that means is that we take care of a specific region, and we take care of a variety of services that might include family day care services, long day care services and out of school hours care.

KRYSTY

The thing I find most interesting about being an authorised officer is working on a different case each day, or exploring monitoring and compliance visits, assessment and rating visits with the services and working alongside of the services to uplift their quality. We are always very proactive in the work that we're doing and we're always working as a service with educators.

AMANDA

The thing that I love the most about my role is the diversity of people that I get to work with.

BRITTANY

Walking into a service just listening and, you know, hearing the children having fun, learning through play, it's such a rewarding experience to be part of that.

AMANDA

I did start off as a student a very, very long time ago in a long day care service, and I worked myself up. I held every potential position in the long day care from a student all the way up to a director, and that was my stepping stone into becoming an authorised officer.

My name is Amanda.

BRITTANY

I'm a field officer, also known as an authorised officer.

My name's Brittany, and I'm an authorised officer.

KRYSTY

My name is Krysty and I am an authorised officer.

I've got 13 years experience working in the early childhood sector. I started as a trainee. I did my cert 3, I did my diploma and my bachelor. I moved into a nominated supervisor role for a couple of years. And then I used my knowledge and skills from the sector to apply those differently, keeping children safe.

BRITTANY

My experience prior to being an authorised officer involved being a trainee in services, also an educator and a nominated supervisor. And so I brought that knowledge and experience to the authorised officer role.

KRYSTY

The advice I'd give to someone thinking about becoming an authorised officer is if you've got the knowledge and the background in early childhood, or you have a passion for children's health and safety, then go for it.

AMANDA

Being able to have those positive relationships because, as we know as authorised officers, the best outcomes for children happen with robust connections with services and leaders. So if you are someone that's passionate about children's health and safety and advancing children's outcome, I'd encourage you to apply to become an authorised officer.