Children's Education and Care Service Director

A Children's Education and Care Service Director oversees the day-to-day operations and strategic management of an early childhood education and care (ECEC) service, such as a long day care centre, preschool, or family day care scheme, in Australia. They ensure compliance with the National Quality Standard (NQS) and Education and Care Services National Regulations, manage staff and budgets, and create an environment that supports children's learning and development. The role involves balancing regulatory obligations, quality assurance, staff leadership, family engagement, and financial sustainability.

Ensure the service maintains compliance with the Education and Care Services National Regulations and achieves or exceeds the National Quality Standard (NQS) ratings. Develop and implement the educational programme in line with the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) or relevant state-based curriculum frameworks. Recruit, induct, train, and performance-manage educators and support staff, including ensuring staff hold current first aid and child protection certifications. Establish and maintain safeguarding policies and respond to child protection concerns in accordance with mandatory reporting obligations in the relevant state or territory. Manage the service's budget, including fee setting, subsidy claims to the Australian Government, and expenditure on materials, equipment, and staff wages. Maintain records of children's enrolment, attendance, developmental progress, and individual education plans, as required by the National Regulations. Liaise with families about fees, policies, child development, and concerns, and resolve complaints through the service's internal grievance procedure. Monitor and report on the service's quality improvement, including analysis of NQS assessment areas and implementation of continuous improvement plans.

The standard entry pathway requires a bachelor degree or higher (ABS Skill Level 1). Specific qualification requirements vary by employer and state. Some employers may accept equivalent experience. Check yourcareer.gov.au for available courses and dewr.gov.au/skills-reform/free-tafe for subsidised training options.

You'll carry heavy legal responsibility for child safety and mandatory reporting, plus staff turnover is brutal in early childhood. Budget constraints mean you're constantly juggling educator wages against sustainability.

Preschools are everywhere but often run by councils or education departments. Family day care schemes operate across regional and remote areas. Job availability is strongest in outer suburbs with young families and growth corridors.

Published for ANZSCO unit group 1341, the wider group this job sits in, not for this job on its own.

This is the median for full-time employees who are not managers and are paid at the adult rate, before tax and salary sacrifice. It is a guide to what the work pays, not a wage rate.

Source: ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025, customised report.

• Child protectioncore
• Conflict Resolutioncore
• Cultural Awareness and Sensitivitycore
• Empathy and Emotional Intelligencecore
• Goal Setting and Planningcore
• Incident Reportingcore
• Inclusive Practicecore
• Policy and Procedure Adherencecore
• Regulatory and Legislative Awarenesscore
• Report Writingcore
• Risk Identificationcore
• Stakeholder Communicationcore
• Team Collaborationcore
• Verbal Communicationcore
• Written Communicationcore
• Community Development
• Complaint Handling
• Confidentiality and Privacy Compliance
• Continuous Learning and Upskilling
• Process Improvement Identification
• Quality Assurance Monitoring
• Record Management
• Rostering and Scheduling Support
• Workload Self-Management

• ABS OSCA 2024, occupation definition and task statements
• ABS Survey of Employee Earnings and Hours, May 2025, customised report.
• ABS, 2021 Census of Population and Housing based on usual place of residence (Custom Report). OSCA Experimental Estimates.

Role data is drawn from official Australian Government sources, and each figure names where it comes from. Where a role is not in the ABS classification, the page shows no government figures for it. Data may not reflect every local variation.

Where our numbers come from.

What Children's Education and Care Service Director workers move into, from ten years of tax records.

Last updated: 30 October 2026