Contact the In Home Care Support Agency of Western Australia to apply for In Home Care. The team will assess your eligibility and create a Family Management Plan.

If you have any questions about this process, please contact us or visit the In Home Care Support Agency website and we can help you.

Yes. Depending on your Family Management Plan, your Educator can provide care to multiple children of different ages, within the same family.

There are minimum requirements for In Home Care Educators to be engaged to provide In Home Care.

Approved providers must ensure that In Home Care Educators meet the following requirements:

be at least 18 years old.
be engaged by an approved In Home Care Service.
hold a current Nationally Coordinated Criminal History Check and a current Working with Children Check for Western Australia.
hold a current nationally approved first aid qualification, which must include emergency asthma management and anaphylaxis management training.
be an Australian citizen or permanent resident or have a relevant visa to allow employment on a continuous basis for 12 months or more.
have a PRODA RA registration.
In addition, our Educators hold a valid full drivers license for Western Australia and a comprehensively insured vehicle, and are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

In Home Care Educators are required to:

comply with the In Home Care Service’s policies and procedures.
Support the approved provider to report serious incidents to the Secretary within 24 hours.
seek the necessary support from the In Home Care Service, particularly where working conditions are not satisfactory or there are concerns about child safety and personal safety.

All Educators engaged by approved providers of In Home Care Services are required to have a minimum Certificate III level qualification in a relevant course or be actively working towards a relevant qualification and provide documentary evidence. This requirement reflects the In Home Care program focus on high quality education and care. A certificate III, a diploma or a degree in Early Childhood Education or equivalent qualifications that have a major focus on Early Childhood Education are accepted qualifications. ACECQA (Australian Children’s Education & Care Quality Authority) maintains a current list of qualifications approved for Educators working in children’s education and care services under the National Quality Framework (NQF) on its website. The qualifications approved under the NQF are accepted qualifications for IHC Educators.

In Home Care Educators can be considered as ‘actively working towards’ meeting the certificate III level qualification if they are:

enrolled in a ACECQA approved qualification and have started study
making satisfactory progress towards completing the course
meeting the requirements to maintain the enrolment.

Requirements to be considered ‘actively working towards’ a diploma or degree qualification are listed on the ACECQA website.

No. In Home Care cannot be provided by a family member.

There is no entitlement to the child care subsidy (CCS) or additional child care subsidy (ACCS) where an In Home Care Educator cares for:

Their, or their partner’s, child, including a foster care child, adopted child, kinship child or child for which they otherwise have legal responsibility, or
Their, or their partner’s: brother, sister, half-brother or half-sister, step-brother or step-sister
Their, or their partner’s: niece, nephew, cousin, grandchild or great grandchild

There are some very limited exceptions to this. For families that live in very remote areas and are unable to find an Educator, in certain circumstances, a suitable relative can be an In Home Care Educator.

Please contact us for more information.