Childcare Ratios in NSW
Childcare ratios fix how many children a single educator can be responsible for at once. In NSW long day care the legal minimums are one educator for every four children under two, one for every five two-year-olds, and one for every ten children from three to preschool age. This guide explains what those numbers mean, how NSW compares, and how to check a centre.
Ratios are one of the few parts of childcare that are fixed in law and easy to compare. They exist so that every child gets enough attention to be safe, comforted and engaged, and they apply to every approved long day care centre in the state, whether it is part of a large group or a single local service.
They are also one of the questions parents ask us most often on tours, usually alongside cost and settling in, which is why we have set out the full picture here.
Yet ratios are often misunderstood. Many parents assume they apply room by room, or that anyone working in the building counts. Neither is quite right, and the details affect what you should look for on a tour.
This guide sets out the NSW numbers, compares them with every other state and territory, explains how they work on a real day, covers the qualification rules that sit alongside them, and shows how to check a centre. All figures come from the national regulator, ACECQA. For more practical reading, see our parent guides library.
What a ratio is
A ratio is the maximum number of children one educator may care for at the same time. Childcare ratios are set under the National Quality Framework, and a centre must meet them at all times, across the whole service. Only staff who are with the children and caring for them at that moment are counted.
A ratio of 1:4 means one educator for every four children, or two educators for eight.
When the numbers do not divide evenly, the centre rounds up. Nine babies need three educators, not two and a quarter.
Ratios are minimums, not targets. A centre can always staff above them, but never below.
"Working directly with children" has a precise meaning: physically present with the children and directly involved in their education and care.
That means the cook, the centre manager doing paperwork in the office, or an educator on a lunch break is not counted at that moment.
Ratios have been part of national law since the National Quality Framework began in 2012, replacing a patchwork of state rules with one system for the whole country.
Ratios are also only part of the picture. Supervision rules require children to be adequately supervised at all times, which can mean more adults than the ratio alone would suggest, for example during outdoor play or excursions.
Counted in ratios
- Educators with the children
- Room leaders on the floor
- Teachers leading group time
Not counted
- The cook and kitchen staff
- Office or admin work
- Anyone on a break
Eyes on every childNSW ratios by age group
The national regulations that govern education and care services require NSW long day care centres to have at least one educator for every four children from birth to 24 months, one for every five children aged from 24 months up to 36 months, and one for every ten from 36 months to preschool age. School-age children in care are one to fifteen.
Here is what that means for a centre of our size. With 76 licensed places spread across babies, toddlers and preschoolers, the youngest rooms need the most educators for the fewest children.
The age bands are exact. A child moves to the next ratio on the day they pass 24 or 36 months, not when they change rooms.
Birthdays can change staffing overnight. When a child in the nursery turns two, they move from the one to four band to the one to five band, even if they stay in the same room for a while.
Rooms often hold children of mixed ages near those boundaries. The regulations allow for this, as long as each age group's ratio is met across the service.
In a nursery of eight babies, that means at least two educators on the floor. In a room of twenty three-year-olds, at least two.
Once children are at school, NSW allows one educator for every fifteen in outside school hours and holiday programs.
Ratios also shape costs. A nursery needs two and a half times as many educators per child as a room of three-year-olds, which is one reason baby places are the hardest to find. Our daily fee is nonetheless the same whichever room your child is in.
Numbers are legal minimums everywhere in Australia. Regulators can issue compliance notices, fines and, in serious cases, suspend a service that falls below them.
Our centre meets these ratios at all times of the day. Our rooms and their ages are set out on our age groups page.
Ratios compared across states
Ratios are mostly the same across Australia under the National Quality Framework, but two age groups differ. NSW, Tasmania and Western Australia require one educator for every ten children aged three to preschool, where the other jurisdictions allow eleven. Victoria is stricter for two-year-olds, at one to four.
| State or territory | Birth to 24 months | 24 to 36 months | 36 months to preschool | Over preschool age |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| New South Wales | 1:4 | 1:5 | 1:10 stricter | 1:15 |
| Victoria | 1:4 | 1:4 stricter | 1:11 | 1:15 |
| Queensland | 1:4 | 1:5 | 1:11 | 1:15 |
| South Australia | 1:4 | 1:5 | 1:11 | 1:15 |
| Western Australia | 1:4 | 1:5 | 1:10 | 1:10, then 1:13 |
| Tasmania | 1:4 | 1:5 | 1:10 | 1:15 |
| Northern Territory | 1:4 | 1:5 | 1:11 | 1:15 |
| Australian Capital Territory | 1:4 | 1:5 | 1:11 | 1:11 |
Source: ACECQA's educator to child ratios page. In Western Australia, the school-age ratio is one to ten for the first twelve children, then one to thirteen, with a detailed table in the state's regulations.
Tasmania also allows two educators for twenty-five children attending a preschool program.
The school-age column matters for families using outside school hours care. The ACT is the strictest at one to eleven, while most jurisdictions allow one to fifteen.
Why the differences? When the national system began, some states already had tighter rules and kept them. NSW's one to ten for older children is one of those legacies.
Babies are treated the same everywhere: one educator for every four children under 24 months.
Ratios for older children are where the differences show. A difference of one child per educator sounds small, but across a large preschool room it can mean an extra educator on the floor.
For families moving from another state, the practical difference is small but real. A room of 20 three-year-olds in NSW needs two educators; in Queensland, 22 children could share the same two.
Family day care, where an educator works from their home, runs on a separate national ratio of one to seven, with no more than four children of preschool age or under.
What ratios mean in practice
In practice, ratios are calculated across the whole service rather than room by room. That gives centres flexibility to move educators where they are needed, but every age group's ratio must still be met at every moment, including breaks, early mornings, late afternoons and outdoor play.
| Time | Children present | Educators needed at 1:5 |
|---|---|---|
| 7:00am | 4 | 1 |
| 8:30am | 11 | 3 |
| 10:00am | 15 | 3 |
| Lunch breaks | 15 | 3, with a relief educator covering each break |
| 5:30pm | 6 | 2 |
The figures above are an example, not any real room. They show how staffing has to rise and fall with arrivals and departures, minute by minute.
The trickiest times are the edges of the day. At 7am and 6pm, fewer children are present, rooms are often combined, and ratios must still hold for the youngest child in the group.
Lunch breaks are another pinch point. Centres plan staggered breaks and relief educators so that no room drops below its ratio while someone eats.
Nap time does not suspend the rules. Educators must still be in the ratio for sleeping children, and safe sleep checks continue.
Outdoors, ratios apply the same way, but supervision needs can rise. Climbing equipment, sandpits and gates often call for an extra set of eyes.
Excursions need more than the ratio. Services must assess the risks of each outing, and many take extra adults so that small groups stay closely watched.
Ratios also move with the seasons. School holidays can bring more school-age children into vacation care, while winter illness can thin numbers in the nursery, and staffing has to follow both.
Mixed-age groups are allowed. An educator caring for three-year-olds can also count toward a two-year-old's ratio, as long as each age group's ratio is maintained and supervision stays adequate.
Children with additional needs may need more support than the ratio provides. Inclusion funding can help centres add an extra educator to a room where that is needed.
What ratios cannot tell you is the quality of each moment. Two educators with eight babies can offer rushed or unhurried care; the difference comes from training, experience and how the day is organised.
Group size matters too. The same ratio feels very different in a room of eight children than in a room of thirty, even with the right number of adults. Ask how many children share each space.
This is why regulators also rate how well a centre staffs its rooms. Staffing arrangements are Quality Area 4 of the National Quality Standard, and results are public.
Qualification requirements alongside ratios
Alongside ratios, the national regulations set a qualification mix. Of the educators who make up the ratio, 50% or more need an approved diploma or active enrolment in one, and the rest need a Certificate III or active enrolment in that. Centres must also employ or have access to early childhood teachers.
That 50% diploma rule sits in regulation 126 of the national regulations.
"Actively working toward" has conditions. An educator must be enrolled and making progress, not simply planning to study.
Early childhood teacher requirements grow with the number of children. A centre with 25 to 59 children present must have a full-time teacher, or one in attendance for six hours a day if it opens 50 or more hours a week.
From 60 children, a second teacher or suitably qualified person is also required for part of each day. NSW adds its own teacher provisions under regulation 272.
In NSW, early childhood teachers must also be accredited with the NSW Education Standards Authority, just like school teachers.
Every educator also needs a current Working With Children Check, and centres must keep records of each educator's qualifications and training for the regulator to inspect.
Qualifications and ratios work together. A room can meet its ratio on paper, but the qualification mix determines how much training the people in it have.
First aid is compulsory too. At least one educator with approved first aid, asthma and anaphylaxis training must be on site at all times. Meet our team on the Meet Our Educators page.
The qualification mix
- Half or more
- Diploma, or actively studying for one
- Everyone else
- Certificate III, or actively studying
- Teachers
- Required by number of children present
- Everyone
- A Working With Children Check
How to check a centre's ratios
To check a centre's ratios, count the children and educators in a room on your tour, ask how rooms are staffed at opening, closing and lunchtime, and look up the centre's Staffing Arrangements rating on StartingBlocks.gov.au. A confident centre will answer every one of those questions without hesitation.
- 1
Count on your tour
Note the children and educators in each room you visit, and do the maths quietly.
- 2
Ask about the edges
How are rooms staffed at 7am, 6pm and over lunch breaks?
- 3
Ask who counts
Does the director or cook ever fill in? The answer should be "only when working directly with children".
- 4
Read the rating
Check Quality Area 4, Staffing Arrangements, in the centre's public rating.
Ask how staff absences are handled. When an educator is sick, the centre must still meet ratios, so it needs a plan: regular casual educators, a float educator, or a manager who steps onto the floor and is counted only while working with children.
Watch as well as count. Are educators down at children's level, talking and playing, or mostly standing and watching? Engaged educators are a sign the ratio is working as intended.
Talk to other parents too. Families who have used a centre for a year or more notice whether rooms feel calm and well staffed, or stretched at certain times of day.
The public register also lists any compliance or enforcement actions, which would include serious or repeated ratio breaches.
Ask to see the room at a busy time. A mid-morning visit shows the room at its fullest, when ratios are working hardest.
Look for relief staff. Centres that employ regular relief educators, who know the children, can cover breaks and absences without disruption.
If you ever have concerns about staffing at a centre, you can raise them with the centre first, and with the NSW Department of Education as the regulatory authority.
For a broader checklist that covers ratios alongside cost, quality and educators, read our guide to choosing the right centre.
Our ratios at Lead
At Lead, we staff every room to at least the NSW ratios throughout the day, from opening at 7am to closing at 6pm. Each room keeps its own team instead of sharing staff around the building, so children see the same faces, and our staffing was rated Meeting the National Quality Standard in May 2026.
Our 76 licensed places are spread across four long day care rooms, with the youngest children in the smallest groups.
Our nursery, Explorers, follows the one to four ratio for babies under 24 months.
Adventurers, our toddler room, follows one to five, and our Pioneers and Inventors rooms follow one to ten.
Our school-age programs, outside school hours and in the holidays, run at one to fifteen.
Across the team you will find Certificate III holders, diploma-qualified educators and university-trained teachers, all of whom renew their first aid, asthma and anaphylaxis training on schedule so that someone trained is always nearby.
Only educators working directly with children count in our numbers. Our cook, for example, is never counted.
We plan breaks and relief cover so no room drops below its ratio at lunchtime, and rooms that combine at the start or end of the day are staffed for the youngest child present.
Our qualification mix meets the national rules, with diploma and degree-qualified educators across the rooms and Certificate III educators alongside them.
Ask us about staffing on a tour, including early mornings and late afternoons. We are happy to walk you through a typical day in your child's room. Our full quality results are on our NQS rating page.
Our rooms and ratios
- Explorers
- Under 2 years, 1:4
- Adventurers
- 2 to 3 years, 1:5
- Pioneers and Inventors
- 3 to 5 years, 1:10
- School age
- Outside school hours, 1:15
Childcare ratios, answered
What is the ratio for babies?+
The ratio for babies is one educator for every four children from birth to 24 months, and it is the same in every Australian state and territory. A nursery with eight babies needs at least two educators working directly with them at all times, including during sleep and meals.
Do ratios include the cook?+
No, the cook is not counted in ratios while cooking. Only educators who are physically present with children and directly involved in their education and care count. That also excludes staff doing office work or taking a break, which is why centres plan relief cover carefully.
Are ratios different in preschool?+
In NSW, children from 36 months to preschool age are cared for at one educator to ten children, whether they are in long day care or a preschool room. Most other states allow one to eleven for this age. An early childhood teacher usually leads the preschool program.
Learn about our centre in St Ives.
See our rooms and ratios in person
Count for yourself, and ask us anything about staffing.