How to check whether a Perth child care provider is legally compliant
By Farah Vogel · Updated 2026-06-25
Every approved child care service in Western Australia operates under the same regulatory framework, but that does not mean every provider is equally diligent about meeting it. A short, direct set of checks before you enrol can tell you a lot about how seriously a service takes compliance day to day.
This is general information to help you ask better questions, not legal advice. For a definitive answer on a specific provider’s current status, check the regulator’s public register or ask the provider directly.
What to check before you visit
Approved provider and service status. Confirm the service is currently an approved provider under the National Law. An unapproved or lapsed service should not be operating at all, and a reputable provider will confirm this without hesitation.
National Quality Standard rating. ACECQA publishes ratings from working towards, through meeting, exceeding, to excellent for every assessed service. This is the closest thing to an independent, comparable quality signal across providers and is public information you can check before booking a tour.
Staff working with children checks. Every staff member who works directly with children should hold a current Working with Children Check. Ask how the service verifies and tracks this, particularly for casual or relief staff. Ratios and qualifications matter just as much as the check itself; our guide on staff ratios and qualifications in WA child care covers what to actually look for.
| Check | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Approved provider status | Confirms the service is legally authorised to operate |
| National Quality Standard rating | Independent, comparable quality signal |
| Staff Working with Children Checks | Baseline safety screening for anyone working with your child |
| Educator-to-child ratios in practice | Regulatory minimums exist, but visiting shows what actually happens day to day |
| Nominated supervisor on site | Confirms someone accountable is present when the approved provider is not |
Questions to ask at a tour
- Can you tell me your current National Quality Standard rating, and when was the last assessment?
- How do you verify Working with Children Checks for new and casual staff?
- Who is your nominated supervisor, and are they on site today?
- What is your process if a serious incident happens, and how are families notified?
- How do you handle complaints, and can you show me your quality improvement plan if you have one on file?
Watching what happens, not just what is said
A confident, specific answer to each of these questions is a good sign. Vague, deflecting or overly rehearsed answers are worth noting. It also helps to watch the service in action during a tour: are educators actually with the children they are responsible for, does the environment look and feel as described, and do staff seem to know the children by name rather than treating the visit as a scripted show.
What corpus feedback tells us
Recurring concerns raised by Perth families about child care providers include unclear communication after an incident, staff turnover that disrupts consistency, and gaps between what a service advertises and how supervision actually plays out day to day. None of these are things a compliance certificate alone will catch, which is why asking direct questions and observing a real session matters as much as checking the paperwork.
What to do if you have a concern about an enrolled service
If your child is already enrolled somewhere and you develop a genuine concern about compliance, safety, or how an incident was handled, raise it directly with the nominated supervisor or director first. Most concerns can be resolved through a direct, specific conversation. If a concern is serious or you feel it has not been addressed properly, WA’s regulatory authority for education and care services is the appropriate body to contact, and a formal complaint through them is treated seriously and confidentially.
Making the final decision
Compliance is the floor, not the whole picture. A service that is fully compliant can still be a poor fit for your child, and a newer service still building its review history is not automatically worse than an established one. Use the checks above to rule out red flags, then weigh the result against how your child responds to the environment and the people who will actually be caring for them. Read our methodology for how we weigh these same signals when scoring providers across Perth Metropolitan.
FAQ
- Can I check a provider's quality rating myself before visiting?
- Yes. ACECQA publishes a national register of approved services and their current National Quality Standard rating, which you can search before you ever step through the door.
- Is it rude to ask a centre director about compliance directly?
- No. A well-run service expects these questions and should answer them without hesitation. Hesitation or vague answers to straightforward compliance questions is itself a signal worth noting.
- What if a provider's rating is working towards the standard, not meeting it?
- This does not automatically mean a service is unsafe, but it does mean ask more specific questions about what improvement plan is in place and when the next assessment is due, rather than assuming the rating alone tells the whole story.
- Do family day care educators need the same checks as centre staff?
- Yes. Family day care educators operate under an approved family day care service and are subject to the same Working with Children Check and National Quality Framework requirements as centre-based staff, even though the care happens in a private home.