Delivery and collection of children policy: regulation 99 in practice

Last reviewed: 29 October 2026. Checked against the Education and Care Services National Regulations, reprint current as at 12 August 2026.

Delivery and collection is the policy most often tested by a real event: an unfamiliar person at pick-up, a parent subject to an order, a child not collected at closing, a child found to have left. This page gives the regulations the procedures must comply with, the contents the policy needs, and how the 2026 safe arrival requirement for children travelling between services connects to it.

What regulation 168 requires

The provisions the procedures must comply with

Provision	What it requires	Penalty
r 99(1)–(3)	The provider, the nominated supervisor and a family day care educator must each ensure a child does not leave the premises except under subregulation (4).	$6,600 each
r 99(4)	A child may only leave if given into the care of a parent, an authorised nominee named in the enrolment record, or a person authorised by a parent or nominee to collect; or leaves under the written authorisation of a parent or nominee; or is taken on an excursion under Division 6; or is transported under Division 7; or is given into care or taken outside because of medical, hospital or ambulance treatment or another emergency.	As above
r 99(5)	“Parent” does not include a parent who is prohibited by a court order from having contact with the child.	Definition
s 170(5) Law, r 160(3)(b)(iii)	An authorised nominee is a person given permission by a parent or family member to collect the child; each nominee’s name, address and contact details must be in the enrolment record.	Record
r 160(3)(c), (d)	The enrolment record must hold details of any court orders, parenting orders or parenting plans about powers, responsibilities or access, and any order about the child’s residence or contact.	Record
r 158(1)	The attendance record must show each child’s full name, the date and time of arrival and departure, and be signed at the time by the person delivering or collecting the child, or by a nominated supervisor or educator.	Record (s 175: $13,500 / $68,700 for prescribed documents)
r 159	Family day care: the same record, signed by the person delivering or collecting or, if that signature cannot reasonably be obtained, by the educator.	Record
r 168(2)(gb), r 102AAB–102AAC	Where children travel between the service and another education or early childhood service (for example school to OSHC), a separate safe arrival policy is required with an annual risk assessment.	$6,600 (r 102AAC(1))
r 12(e)	A child who appears to be missing, cannot be accounted for, or appears to have been taken or removed from the premises in a manner that contravenes the Regulations is a serious incident: notify within 24 hours (s 174(2)(a), r 176(2)(a)).	$13,500 / $68,700
s 165 Law	Children must be adequately supervised at all times they are in the service’s care, which includes the handover at the door and the car park where the service has taken responsibility.	$34,200 individual, $172,200 otherwise

Regulation 99 does not apply in Western Australia, which has an equivalent provision in section 165A of its applied Law. The policy content is the same.

What the policy must contain

1. Who may collect. The four categories in regulation 99(4)(a) and (b) restated in plain words, and the rule that the enrolment record is the source: if a name is not in it, a parent must add it in writing before collection, not confirm it by phone at the door.
2. Identity checks. How an educator confirms the identity of a nominee or authorised person they have not met: photo identification against the enrolment record, and what happens if it cannot be produced.
3. Court orders. How orders are recorded (regulation 160(3)(c), (d)), who at the service knows which children are affected, what educators do if a prohibited parent arrives, and when police are called. Regulation 99(5) means the service does not release the child; the policy should also say the service does not physically restrain an adult.
4. Sign-in and sign-out. The regulation 158 record, who signs if the parent leaves without signing, how digital kiosks capture a signature and time, and how the service reconciles the record against the children present at set times (a headcount procedure that also satisfies Element 2.2.1).
5. A person who appears unfit to collect. Intoxication or impairment: the educator offers to call another nominee, documents the conversation, and does not refuse release unless the policy and the law support it. This is the hardest paragraph to write and the one services most often leave out.
6. Children not collected at closing. Order of contacts from the enrolment record (parent, emergency contact under regulation 160(3)(b)(ii), nominees), how long the service waits, who stays (two adults if possible), and at what point the state child protection service or police are contacted. Late fees belong in the fees policy, not here.
7. Written authorisations to leave. Regulation 99(4)(b): the form and content of a standing or one-off written authorisation for a child to leave other than with a person (for example an older OSHC child walking home), and the age and circumstances the service will accept.
8. Transport and excursions. Cross-reference to the excursion policy (regulations 100 to 102) and transport procedures (regulations 102A to 102D), and to the safe arrival policy where regulation 168(2)(gb) applies.
9. Missing child. The search procedure, the point at which emergency services are called, parent notification, and the 24-hour notification to the regulatory authority as a serious incident under regulation 12(e).
10. Family day care. The educator-level version of each step, including the regulation 159 signature rule.

What assessors look for

Handover sits under Element 2.2.1 (supervision) and Element 2.2.2 (incident and emergency management), with the policy itself under Element 7.1.2. Officers observe a pick-up period, check that the attendance record is signed at the time rather than completed later, and ask an educator what they would do if an unknown person arrived for a child. They check enrolment records for the orders the service says it holds. In OSHC and services on school sites they look for the safe arrival policy and its risk assessment, which has been required since the 2026 amendments.

Common gaps

• Nominees added by phone or text and not recorded in the enrolment record before release.
• Attendance records signed by the educator for the whole room at the end of the day.
• A court order known to the director but not to the casual on the afternoon shift.
• No procedure for an impaired collector, so each educator improvises.
• An OSHC service relying on the school’s roll rather than its own regulation 158 record for children walking over from class.

Frequently asked questions

This page is a research summary, not legal or compliance advice. Element and regulation wording is reproduced from the current reprint of the National Regulations; confirm the position with your regulatory authority before relying on it for a compliance decision.