Authorised employers need to provide appropriate supervision of children during their employment, taking into account the child’s age, sex and degree of maturity.
The child must be in view of their supervisor at all times.
A supervisor must not supervise at any one time:
- more than 2 children, if any of the children are under 3 years old
- more than 5 children, if any of the children are between 3 and 5 years old
- more than 10 children, if all of the children are more than 5 years old.
A supervisor must not have any other responsibilities while supervising children.
Who can be a supervisor?
A supervisor can be:
- the child’s parent or
- an adult nominated by the parent in writing (such as a grandparent, uncle, aunt or family friend).
If a parent or parent nominee is not available, the employer can hire a supervisor or chaperone to act as the child’s supervisor. If the child is under 6 years old, the employed supervisor or chaperone must be:
- a person with a child care or child care studies qualification or
- a registered nurse or registered midwife.
If the child is over 6 years old, the employed supervisor or chaperone must be an adult with training and experience in the care of children of that particular age.
Employed supervisors and chaperones must have a Working with Children Check.
The employed supervisor should:
- have a copy of and follow the organisation’s code of conduct
- follow the Code of Practice for hours of work and rest breaks
- notify a parent if a child is injured or becomes ill during the course of their employment
- notify the employer of any:
- accident involving the child
- injury to the child
- complaint made by the child or parent in relation to the employment (including complaints relating to the contract of employment or more serious complaints such as allegations of physical abuse or sexual misconduct)
- enable the child’s contact with their parent or parent nominee whenever the child requests contact or whenever it is appropriate to do so in the interests of the child.
