Educational leader: regulation 118, the role, and what support means under Element 7.2.2

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

The educational leader is the one leadership role in the Regulations defined by what it does rather than by legal liability. It exists to make the program and the planning cycle the responsibility of a named person with the experience to lead it. Assessors look at it twice: under Element 7.2.2 for whether the leader is supported and actually leading, and under Quality Area 1 for whether the program shows it. This page gives the regulation, what the role covers, what support means in practice, the common findings and the award context.

The regulation

Source: Education and Care Services National Regulations, reprint current as at 12 August 2026. Family day care services designate an educational leader in the same way; the leader typically works through the co-ordinators.

What suitably qualified and experienced means

ACECQA’s guidance states that neither the NQS nor the Regulations are prescriptive about the qualifications, experience, skills or role description of the educational leader. The approved provider decides, and should be able to explain the decision. In practice regulators and assessors expect:

• A diploma or early childhood teaching qualification, and in a service with an early childhood teacher it is often, but not necessarily, the teacher.
• Experience with the approved learning framework in use (EYLF V2.0 or My Time, Our Place) and with the assessment and planning cycle.
• The ability to mentor other educators, which is a different skill from being a strong educator.
• A written designation that names the person, the date and the scope. A line in a staff meeting minute is not a designation.

What the role covers

Area	What the educational leader does	NQS
Program and curriculum	Leads curriculum decision-making so the program is based on the approved framework and on each child (section 168 of the Law, regulation 73).	1.1.1, 1.1.2
Assessment and planning cycle	Sets up and models the cycle of observation, analysis, documentation, planning, implementation and reflection; checks that regulation 74 documentation is proportionate and usable.	1.3.1, 7.2.2
Critical reflection	Leads reflection on practice and pedagogy and records how it changed the program.	1.3.2, 7.2.1
Mentoring and professional learning	Coaches educators, contributes to individual learning plans and induction of new and relief staff.	7.2.3, 4.2.1
Families	Shapes how families learn about the program and contribute to it.	1.3.3, 6.1.2
Quality improvement	Owns the Quality Area 1 section of the QIP and the evidence for it.	7.2.1

What support means under Element 7.2.2

The element has two halves: the leader is supported and the leader leads. Assessors test the first with questions about time, authority and professional learning, and the second by looking at the program. Evidence that satisfies both:

• A role description agreed with the leader that sets out responsibilities and reporting lines, reviewed annually.
• Allocated non-contact time for the role, visible on the roster, and protected when the service is short-staffed.
• Professional learning for the leader themselves, not only for the educators they mentor.
• A regular meeting with the nominated supervisor or director, and a place in the leadership structure (regulation 168(2)(l) governance policy, Element 7.1.3).
• The leader’s reflections and decisions recorded somewhere: a leader’s journal, meeting records, annotated program documents.

Award context

The industrial side is separate from the Regulations. The Children’s Services Award 2010 and the Educational Services (Teachers) Award 2020 contain an educational leader allowance for an employee appointed to the role, and the Children’s Services Award was amended in 2024 to provide non-contact time for the educational leader. The amount and hours are set by the award and the Fair Work Commission, change from time to time and are not part of the National Quality Framework; check the current award. Paying the allowance is not evidence of Element 7.2.2 on its own, and not paying it when the award requires it is a Fair Work matter.

Where it goes wrong

• No written designation, or a designation naming someone who left; the staff record under regulation 148 and the display under regulation 173 still show the old name.
• A leader with the title and the allowance but no time: Element 7.2.2 is then usually rated Working Towards on the support half.
• A leader who writes the program for every room, so educators cannot explain their own planning (Element 1.3.1 and 7.2.2 both suffer).
• The role held by the director as one of many hats with no evidence it is being performed.
• Educational leadership treated as a documentation audit rather than pedagogy.

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.