13. Offences relating to enforcement

Offence to obstruct an authorised officer

[ National Law, Section 207 ] A person must not obstruct an authorised officer in exercising powers under the National Law and Regulations.

The regulatory authority may seek to prosecute a person for obstructing an authorised officer. The maximum penalty which may be imposed by a court is $8,000, in the case of an individual; $40,000 in any other case.

Offence to fail to assist an authorised officer

[ National Law, Section 208 ] A person must not, without reasonable excuse:

refuse to answer a question asked lawfully by an authorised officer
refuse to provide information or produce a document lawfully required by an authorised officer
fail to comply with a request made by an authorised officer entering premises under a warrant to:
‒ require the occupier of the premises or any person present to help with the investigation

‒ require the occupier of the premises or any person present to give information to help the investigation.

The regulatory authority may seek to prosecute a person for failing to assist an authorised officer. The maximum penalty which may be imposed by a court is $8,000, in the case of an individual; $40,000 in any other case.

Offence to destroy or damage notices or documents

[ National Law, Section 209 ] A person must not, without lawful authority, destroy or damage any notice or document given, prepared or kept under the National Law.

The regulatory authority may seek to prosecute for destroying or damaging notices or documents under the National Law. The maximum penalty which may be imposed by a court is $8,000, in the case of an individual; $40,000 in any other case.

Offence to impersonate authorised officer

[ National Law, Section 210 ] A person must not impersonate an authorised officer.

The regulatory authority may seek to prosecute a person for impersonating an authorised officer. The maximum penalty which may be imposed by a court is $8,000.

Offence to fail to comply with notice or requirement

[ National Law, Section 217 ] A person must not refuse or fail to comply with a requirement under the power of regulatory authorities to obtain information, documents and evidence by notice or at a service, to the extent that the person is capable of complying with the requirement.

The regulatory authority may seek to prosecute a person for refusing or failing to comply with a notice or requirement. The maximum penalty which may be imposed by a court is $8,000, in the case of an individual; $40,000 in any other case.

Offence to hinder or obstruct regulatory authority

[ National Law, Section 218 ] A person must not hinder or obstruct the regulatory authority in exercising a power to obtain information, documents and evidence by notice or at a service.

The regulatory authority may seek to prosecute a person for hindering or obstructing a regulatory authority. The maximum penalty which may be imposed by a court is $8,000, in the case of an individual; $40,000 in any other case.

False or misleading information or documents

[ National Law, Section 295 ] A person must not give the regulatory authority or authorised officer any information or document that the person knows is false or misleading unless, when giving the document, the person:

informs the regulatory authority or authorised officer how the document is false or misleading, to the best of their ability
gives the correct information to the regulatory authority or authorised officer, if the person has or can reasonably get the correct information.

The regulatory authority may seek to prosecute for providing false or misleading information or documents. The maximum penalty which may be imposed by a court is $6,000, in the case of an individual; $30,000 in any other case.

Attachment A – Summary of offences under the National Law

Offence	Reference	Approved provider	Nominated supervisor	Family day care educator	Staff member	Infringement notices
Provide an education and care service without service approval	Section 103	✓
Provide a family day care service from a place that is not a residence or approved venue, unless otherwise permitted	Section 103A	✓
Advertise a service without service approval	Section 104	✓
Operate a service without nominated supervisor	Section 161	✓
Fail to ensure nominated supervisor meets prescribed minimum requirements	Section 161A	✓
Operate a service without responsible person present (centre-based service only)	Section 162	✓
Fail to employ or engage the prescribed minimum number of co-ordinators (family day care service only – see Staffing Arrangements in Operational Requirements)	Section 163	✓
Fail to provide support to family day care educators	Section 164	✓
Education and care at a family day care service not to be provided by person other than a family day care educator, except as prescribed in regulation	Section 164A	✓
Inadequate supervision	Section 165	✓	✓	✓
Inappropriate discipline	Section 166	✓	✓	✓	✓
Fail to protect children from harm and hazards	Section 167	✓	✓	✓
Fail to provide required program	Section 168	✓	✓
Fail to meet minimum staffing requirements, including ratios and qualifications	Section 169	✓	✓	✓
Allow unauthorised person to remain on premises	Section 170	✓	✓	✓
Fail to comply with direction to exclude inappropriate person	Section 171	✓	✓	✓
Fail to display prescribed information	Section 172	✓				✓
Fail to notify circumstances to the regulatory authority	Section 173	✓				✓
Fail to notify information to the regulatory authority	Section 174	✓
Fail to notify information to the approved provider (family day care educator)	Section 174A			✓
Fail to keep enrolment and other documents	Section 175	✓		✓
Compliance directions	Section 176	✓				✓
Engage person to whom prohibition notice applies	Section 188	✓
False or misleading information about prohibition notice	Section 188A	Any or all persons
Obstruct an authorised officer	Section 207	Any or all persons
Fail to assist an authorised officer	Section 208	Any or all persons
Destroy or damage notices or documents	Section 209	Any or all persons
Impersonate an authorised officer	Section 210	Any or all persons
Fail to comply with notice or requirement	Section 217	Any or all persons
Hinder or obstruct regulatory authority	Section 218	Any or all persons
Register of family day care educators	Section 269	✓

Attachment B – Summary of offences under the National Regulations

Offence	Approved provider	Nominated supervisor	Family day care educator	Infringement notice	Compliance direction	Maximum penalty
Quality Improvement Plans (Regulation 55)	✓				✓
Offences in relation to giving false or misleading statements about ratings (Regulation 72)	✓				✓	$2,000
Location of principal office of a family day care service (72A)	✓					$2,000
Record of child assessments or evaluations for delivery of education program (Regulation 74)	✓				✓
Information about education program to be kept available (Regulation 75)	✓				✓
Health and hygiene practices and safe food practices (Regulation 77)	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	$2,000
Access to safe drinking water and regular food and beverages (Regulation 78)	✓	✓	✓		✓	$2,000
Service providing food and beverages (Regulation 79)	✓	✓	✓		✓	$2,000
Weekly menu (Regulation 80)	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	$1,000
Sleep and rest (Regulation 81)	✓	✓	✓		✓	$1,000
Tobacco, drug and alcohol free environment (Regulation 82)	✓		✓		✓	$2,000
Staff members not to be affected by alcohol or drugs (Regulation 83)	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	$2,000
Awareness of child protection law (Regulation 84)	✓				✓	$1,000
Notification to parents of incident, injury, trauma and illness (Regulation 86)	✓			✓		$2,000

Offence	Approved provider	Nominated supervisor	Family day care educator	Infringement notice	Compliance direction	Maximum penalty
Infectious diseases (Regulation 88)	✓			✓		$2,000
First aid kits (Regulation 89)	✓		✓	✓	✓	$2,000
Medical conditions policy to be provided to parents (Regulation 91)	✓				✓
Administration of medication (Regulation 93)	✓	✓	✓			$2,000
Emergency and evacuation procedures (Regulation 97)	✓			✓	✓	$2,000
Telephone or other communication equipment (Regulation 98)	✓			✓	✓	$1,000
Children leaving the education and care service premises (Regulation 99)	✓	✓	✓			$2,000
Risk assessment must be conducted before excursion (Regulation 100)	✓	✓	✓			$2,000
Authorisation for excursions (Regulation 102)	✓	✓	✓			$1,000
Transport risk assessment must be conducted before service transports child (Regulation 102B)	✓	✓	✓			$2,000
Authorisation for service to transport children (Regulation 102D)	✓	✓	✓			$1,000
Accounting for children embarking a means of transport for regular transportation and making a record (Regulation 102E)	✓	✓				$2,000
Accounting for children disembarking a means of transport for regular transportation and making a record (Regulation 102F)	✓	✓				$2,000
Premises, furniture and equipment to be safe, clean and in good repair (Regulation 103)	✓				✓	$2,000
Fencing and security (Regulation 104)	✓			✓	✓	$2,000
Access to sufficient furniture, materials and developmentally appropriate equipment (Regulation 105)	✓				✓
Laundry and hygiene facilities (Regulation 106)	✓				✓
Space requirements – indoors (Regulation 107)	✓				✓	$2,000
Space requirements – outdoor space (Regulation 108)	✓				✓	$2,000
Ventilation and natural light (Regulation 110)	✓				✓	$2,000
Administrative space (Regulation 111)	✓				✓
Nappy change facilities (Regulation 112)	✓			✓	✓	$1,000
Outdoor space – natural environment (Regulation 113)	✓				✓
Outdoor space – shade (Regulation 114)	✓				✓	$1,000
Premises designed to facilitate supervision (Regulation 115)	✓				✓
Assessments of family day care residences and approved venues (Regulation 116)	✓				✓	$2,000
Glass (Regulation 117)	✓				✓
Educational leader (Regulation 118)	✓				✓
Family day care educator to be at least 18 years old (Regulation 119)	✓				✓	$1,000

Offence	Approved provider	Nominated supervisor	Family day care educator	Infringement notice	Compliance direction	Maximum penalty
Educators who are under 18 to be supervised (Regulation 120)	✓				✓	$1,000
Minimum requirements for a family day care educator (regulation 143A)	✓					$2,000
Ongoing management of family day care educators (Regulation 143B)	✓					$2,000
Relationships in groups (Regulation 156)	✓				✓
Access for parents (Regulation 157)	✓	✓	✓		✓	$1,000
Residents at family day care residence and family day care educator assistants to be fit and proper persons (Regulation 163)	✓				✓	$2,000
Requirement for notice of new persons at residence (Regulation 164)	✓				✓	$2,000
Children not to be alone with visitors (Regulation 166)	✓		✓			$2,000
Policies and procedures in place (Regulation 168)	✓				✓	$1,000
Additional policies and procedures for family day care (Regulation 169)	✓				✓	$1,000
Policies and procedures to be followed (Regulation 170)	✓				✓	$1,000
Policies and procedures to be available (Regulation 171)	✓				✓	$1,000
Notification of change to policies and procedures (Regulation 172)	✓				✓
Prescribed enrolment and other documents to be kept by approved provider (Regulation 177)	✓			✓	✓	$2,000
Prescribed enrolment and other records to be kept by family day care educator (Regulation 178)			✓	✓		$2,000
Confidentiality of records kept by approved provider (Regulation 181)	✓					$2,000
Confidentiality of records kept by family day care educator (Regulation 182)			✓			$2,000
Storage of records and other documents (Regulation 183)	✓				✓
Law and regulations to be available (Regulation 185)	✓				✓
Prescribed form of identity card (Regulation 187)	Applies to an authorised officer					$1,000
False or misleading documents (Regulation 191)	Applies to an authorised officer					$2,000