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 Division 2 of the National Law.

The NSW Regulatory Authority 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, in line with the Department of Education’s expectations under its Code of Conduct, authorised officers are required to:

• 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 regulatory authority who will undertake assessment and rating functions, must participate in intensive training conducted by Australian Children’s Education & 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 National Quality Standard (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 National Law and National Regulations.

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 NQF.

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
• approved learning frameworks
• 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 Statement of Expectations (SOE) outlines the NSW Department of Education’s commitments as the Regulatory Authority for ECEC. It calls out key activities that will be undertaken to meet the Minister’s expectations and assure the public that there is effective regulatory oversight of the ECEC sector.

One of the key outcomes of the SOE is to ‘ensure regulatory practices are applied consistently’ with a commitment to regulatory capability training for staff.

The regulatory authority 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 regulatory authority 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 regulatory authority must complete training tailored to individual roles and capabilities.

JESS

My name is Jess Dias and I'm an authorised officer with the Department of Education.

ROBERT

My name is Robert Barbara and I'm an authorised officer with the New South Wales Department of Education.

JESS

We regulate over 5,900 early education and care services across New South Wales.

ROBERT

An authorised officer works in collaboration with providers and services to ensure that the quality of education and care that they provide is aligned to the National Quality Framework.

JESS

There isn't really a typical day. We could be doing some monitoring compliance visits, some compliance campaigns, sometimes assessment and rating visits.

ROBERT

If I can offer some information or some strategies around how we may achieve and implement the National Law and Regulations, well, that's what I'm here for. It's also very gratifying and satisfying when I can work with services and we're on the same page in terms of what quality means and what it should look like in the education and care service, because we all want the same thing and that is best outcomes for children.

I would say to anybody who would like to become an authorised officer is to go for it.