All early childhood services are required to have a
COVID safe management plan in place detailing how families and staff will stay COVID safe.
The Australian Health Protection Principal Committee (AHPPC) advised on 15 November 2021 that early childhood education and care services are essential services, and should continue to operate with appropriate risk mitigation strategies. Read the
AHPPC statement for its recommendations to services for safe operation.
Find services in your area:
Early childhood services
Family day care and outside school hours care
Early Childhood Education and Care COVID-safe measures
We are committed to supporting the Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) sector in their ongoing efforts to respond to COVID-19. The health and safety of children and ECEC staff remains a priority.
The department has developed an ECEC COVID-safe measure plan that includes:
- priority RATs for ECEC staff and children who present as symptomatic at fever clinics
- short-term measures to reduce regulatory burden while protecting children’s health and safety and wellbeing
- clear information for isolation requirements.
Read more about ECEC
COVID-safe measures.
Download and display the COVID-19 and flu staying safe while learning fact sheet in your service to assist in communicating with families.
Daily operations
Most early childhood community and sessional kindergarten, long day care, family day care and outside school hours care services are open. A small number of services may need to temporarily close at their discretion or on advice from Queensland Health.
Please note: restrictions to access may apply where a local government area or state-wide lockdown is in place. Continue to check the
Queensland Health website for the latest advice.
The
early childhood services closures website provides information about service closures.
Families looking to re-locate their children to a new service should contact services directly to obtain the most up-to-date information regarding availability and enrolment.
Outside school hours care services
Outside school hours care (OSHC) services based on a state school site will continue to operate when a school is closed, unless directed to close on advice from Queensland Health.
Attendance
All children who are enrolled in a community kindergarten can physically attend unless a local government area or state-wide lockdown is in place or the service is closed.
During a lockdown, children of essential workers or vulnerable children can attend sessional kindergartens. Sessional kindergartens in impacted areas may deliver remote learning.
Anyone who is unwell should not attend a facility.
If a child has any
symptoms of COVID-19, they need to
get tested.
Support for young children
In addition to the
my name is Coronavirus video, there are a
range of resources available to help young children understand and cope with the impacts of COVID-19 and other emergencies.
Testing negative
If your child returns a negative COVID-19 test, they should still stay home until they are well. Parents and carers need to follow the
Queensland Health recommended exclusion periods for contagious conditions. Children should not attend Early Childhood Education and Care settings if they are unwell, have a contagious condition or are showing any other symptoms.
Testing positive
If your child tests positive for COVID-19, they will be required to isolate at home and cannot attend a service while isolating.
More information on
isolation is available.
Children who are close contacts
If a member of a child's household tests positive for COVID-19, the child must follow Queensland Health guidelines for
close contacts.
Wellbeing
There are a range of resources available to help young children understand and cope with the impacts of COVID-19 and other emergencies.
These include Queensland Health's Birdie Stories and The Australian Government's
Starting Blocks website, which parents may find helpful when having conversations about COVID-19.
Starting Blocks also provides activities to do at home with your children. A range of support material for the wellbeing of early childhood staff can also be found at Starting Blocks.
More information
For early childhood education and care COVID-19 related enquiries, please phone 1800 454 639 or email ECEC.COVID19@qed.qld.gov.au.
Other useful sites provide information and resources that are progressively updated, it is important to remain up to date with the latest information: