Under the Education and Care Services National Regulations, an approved
provider must ensure that policies and procedures are in place for managing
excursions (regulation 168) and take reasonable steps to ensure policies and
procedures are followed (regulation 170).
The policy and procedures must include the following:
• conducting a risk assessment before each excursion to identify any risks that
might aect the safety, health and wellbeing of children, as well as how the
risks will be managed (regulations 100, 101)
• conducting periodic new risk assessments for regular outings
• obtaining authorisation from families or authorised nominees (regulation 102).
Your policy and procedures should address these requirements, as well as quality
practices relating to undertaking excursions that align with the National Quality
Standard.
Every service is dierent so it is not suicient to apply generic policies and
procedures to multiple services. You will need to contextualise your policies and
procedures to your service’s operations and its unique context.
1. Title
Excursions policy
2. Policy statement
The policy statement will reflect your service’s philosophy about excursions,
including the role of excursions and regular outings in your planning and
program.
For example:
Excursions and regular outings are an important part of our educational
program, providing opportunities for the children to build connections
with the local community and contributing to their sense of belonging and
connection with the world around them. We are committed to ensuring
the safety, health and wellbeing of children during excursions and regular
outings by conducting risk assessments and ensuring authorisations are
obtained from families.
3. Background
Your policy needs to include a statement of why this policy is in place.
For example:
The Education and Care Services National Regulations require approved
providers to ensure their services have policies and procedures in place for
managing excursions.
Policy and procedure guidelines
These guidelines are part
of a series intended to
assist in the development
of your service’s policies
and procedures required
under regulations 168
and 169. They set out the
main components to be
included in your policies
and procedures, and
considerations for each
component.
They should guide how you
develop your policies and
procedures, and are not an
exact format to be followed.
June 2021
EXCURSIONS
POLICY GUIDELINES
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Excursions
4. Legislative requirements
Your policy must be consistent with, and refer to, legislative requirements for managing excursions.
Examples include, but are not limited to:
Section/regulation Description
Section 165 Oence to inadequately supervise children
Regulation 89 First aid kits
Regulation 90 Medical conditions policy
Regulation 99 Children leaving the education and care service premises
Regulation 100 Risk assessment must be conducted before excursion
Regulation 101 Conduct of risk assessment for excursion
Regulation 102 Authorisation for excursion
Regulation 122 Educators must be working directly with children to be included in ratios
Regulation 123 Educator to child ratios – centre-based services
Regulation 123A Family day care co-ordinator to educator ratios – family day care service
Regulation 124 Number of children who can be educated and cared for – family day care educator
Regulation 136 First aid qualifications
Regulation 168 Education and care service must have policies and procedures
Regulation 169 Additional policies and procedures – family day care service
Regulation 170 Policies and procedures to be followed
Regulation 171 Policies and procedures to be kept available
Regulation 172 Notification of change to policies or procedures
When writing your policy, you will need to break down what is required under each regulation and how your service
will meet these requirements. How these work in practice will be contained in your procedures.
As you reflect on your Excursions policy, it might highlight the need to split its various areas into dierent policies and
procedures that can be readily accessed by all sta members to follow. For example, you may wish to have separate
policies for Planning for an excursion and Regular outings.
5. Principles to inform your policy
All decision-making should be carried out in accordance with the principles of your service’s Excursions policy.
Examples of principles could include, but are not limited to:
• Children’s connection with the world around them contributes to their sense of belonging. Therefore, our
educational program includes excursions and regular outings to promote opportunities for the children to build
connections with the local community.
• Children’s safety, health and wellbeing is paramount, and all experiences for the service, including excursions and
regular outings, will be conducted in a way that minimises and addresses any risks identified.
• Clear and concise roles and responsibilities will ensure management, educators and sta are aware of their roles
and responsibilities in relation to excursions and regular outings.
Change in circumstances
Risk assessments are required to be conducted before excursions, unless the excursion is a regular outing for which
a risk assessment has already been conducted less than 12 months prior. However, when there is a change in
circumstances relevant to the risk assessment for a regular outing, the service must update the risk assessments and
authorisation forms. Examples of changes in circumstances include additional children attending, when there is a
change in the location, or there are changes to the route taken to and from the outing.
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Excursions
6. Key terms
To make it easier for your audience, provide definitions of key terms that may not be used every day. For example:
Term Meaning Source
ACECQA – Australian
Children’s Education
and Care Quality
Authority
The independent national authority that works with all regulatory
authorities to administer the National Quality Framework, including
the provision of guidance, resources and services to support the
sector to improve outcomes for children.
acecqa.gov.au
Authorised person A parent or family member of a child who is being educated and cared
for by the service or the family day care educator, or their authorised
nominee.
Guide to the NQF (Glossary)
Excursion An outing organised by an education and care service or family
day care educator, but does not include an outing organised by an
education and care service provided on a school site if:
(a) the child or children leave the education and care service premises
in the company of an educator; and
(b) the child or children do not leave the school site.
National Law (Definitions)
Regular outing In relation to an education and care service, means a walk, drive or
trip to and from a destination:
(a) that the service visits regularly as part of its educational program;
and
(b) where the circumstances relevant to the risk assessment are the
same on each outing.
National Law (Definitions)
Risk assessment Assessing the risk means working out how likely it is that a hazard will
harm someone and how serious the harm could be.
acecqa.gov.au/media/29421
7. Links to other policies
Refer to related policies and procedures, for example:
• Incident, injury, trauma and illness
• Dealing with medical conditions in children
• Emergency and evacuation
• Safe transportation of children
• Providing a child safe environment
• Nutrition, food and beverages, dietary requirements
• Sun protection
• Water safety
• Sleep and rest for children
• Acceptance and refusal of authorisations
• Delivery of children to, and collection from,
education and care service premises
8. Induction and ongoing training
State information about induction training and
frequency of ongoing training and information sharing
to assist managers, co-ordinators, educators and other
sta to fulfil their roles eectively.
9. Policy created/reviewed
Include the date the policy was created, reviewed or
changes were made.
10. Monitoring, evaluation and review
State when the policy will be reviewed and who will be
responsible for this.
11. Checklist
Have you referenced the relevant regulations and
are these reflected in the policy?
Does the title provide a clear and concise
statement identifying the intent of the policy?
Have you checked the policy requirements and
referenced related legislation that applies to your
service type?
Does your policy statement provide a framework
for decision-making and ensure consistent
practice?
Does your policy statement reflect your service
philosophy?
Is it clear why this policy exists?
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Excursions
PROCEDURES GUIDELINES
Under the Education and Care Services National Regulations, an approved provider must ensure policies and
procedures are in place for excursions. These guidelines are part of a series intended to assist in the development of
your policies and procedures required under regulations 168 and 169. They are to guide you to develop your policies
and procedures, and are not an exact format to be followed.
Your procedures should be written in clear and concise language, making them easy to read, understand and
implement.
The steps and guidelines you document will not only guide your practice, but also inform regulatory authorities of
roles and responsibilities at the service.
When thinking about your procedures for excursions, they need to be practical and achievable. For example, if your
procedures state that you carry out a site visit two weeks before your excursion, you will need to make sure steps are in
place to make this happen.
1. Title
Excursions procedures
2. Reference to policy and philosophy
Here you refer to the Excursions policy as seen in your policy documents. You can reference where you will find the
policy to help those looking for it.
Your procedures will also reflect your service’s overall philosophy and supervision and ratio plans.
3. Procedures
This is where you detail the way you will implement the Excursions policy.
It is the ‘How to’ in your service and includes specific step-by-step procedures for managing excursions and regular
outings.
Some areas that will be outlined here will include:
• where the procedures will be kept
• when they were last reviewed
• templates and documents that may be required and/or used as a part of the procedures (e.g. excursion risk
assessment template, register of children attending, emergency contact information)
• systems and resources required to monitor the implementation of procedures.
When developing your procedures you will need to consider any risks associated with children of diering ages,
physical capabilities and developmental stages. This is particularly relevant in family day care and outside school
hours care services where there is commonly a mixed age group.
You will also need to consider:
• the type of information you will need to collect for both regular and one-o excursions
• what information needs to be included in your authorisation for an excursion form
• educator to child ratios for excursions may need to be greater than the minimum requirements, depending on the
type of excursions, any risks identified, the number of children, their ages, and individual needs
• not exceeding your service’s maximum number of approved places for children, which includes children both at the
service premises and on an excursion
• when and how risk assessments will be conducted for each excursion to ensure consideration of all relevant risks
and how they are minimised
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Excursions
• qualifications of educators and sta at the excursion and the service premises. For example, if some children are on
an excursion and others remain at the service premises, at least one educator holding appropriate qualifications
(including first aid) must be in both groups
• other procedures and whether they should be adjusted.
As you reflect on your Excursions policy, it might highlight the need to split its various areas into dierent procedures,
which will be displayed or accessed by all sta to follow in relation to their required actions. For example, you may
wish to have separate procedures for Regular outings and Planned excursions.
4. Roles and responsibilities
This is where you will designate specific roles and responsibilities for the people who hold dierent positions within
your service. This needs to align with the Education and Care Services National Regulations (see pp. 7–8 below).
It is important to note that it is the legal responsibility of approved providers to ensure systems are in place to
minimise risk and ensure health and safety procedures are implemented by the responsible people in services
including family day care (FDC) environments (if applicable). Ultimate responsibility lies with the approved provider to
ensure their service/s are meeting the requirements under the Education and Care Services National Law.
When developing this section consider:
• What are the roles and responsibilities of the approved provider, responsible person, nominated supervisor,
educators, other sta, volunteers, students and families in your service in relation to managing excursions?
• How will you clearly define these roles and expectations and where will it be documented?
• Why are clear and robust procedures for excursions important for children’s safety, health and wellbeing?
• How will you learn from the administration of these procedures to improve your practices?
• What information will you need from families to ensure their authorisation has been granted for children
to participate in excursions and that they are aware of the details and purpose of the excursion, including:
transportation, expected duration of the excursion, the type of experience the children will be engaged in, potential
risks and how they will be managed?
• How will you ensure that the necessary tools are available so the approved provider, nominated supervisor,
educators and other sta members can follow the procedures? How will they be made aware of the procedures?
• Do the roles and responsibilities reflect your service type?
An example of roles and responsibilities could include, but is not limited to:
Roles Responsibilities
Approved provider
• ensure that obligations under the Education and Care Services National Law and National
Regulations are met
• ensure the appropriate risk assessments are completed and all relevant actions are
undertaken prior to the excursion
• ensure all children have written authorisation from families to leave the service on an
excursion
• ensure educator to child ratios are maintained during the excursion and address the risks
identified (if applicable)
• ensure family members and volunteers attending the excursion are not le alone with any
child or group of children
• take reasonable steps to ensure that nominated supervisors, educators, sta and
volunteers follow the policy and procedures
• ensure copies of the policy and procedures are readily accessible to nominated
supervisors, educators, sta, volunteers and families, and available for inspection
• notify families at least 14 days before changing the policy or procedures if the changes
will:
• aect the fees charged or the way they are collected or
• significantly impact the service’s education and care of children or
• significantly impact the family’s ability to utilise the service.
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Excursions
Roles Responsibilities
Nominated supervisor
• conduct a risk assessment for an excursion, ensuring any risks are managed (prior to
obtaining written authorisation from families)
• ensure a new risk assessment is completed when circumstances change for regular
outings
• ensure all children attending the excursion have written authorisation from families to
attend prior to the excursion
• ensure volunteers understand the details of the excursion, the expectations, and their
supervision responsibilities
• verify that all the required equipment and/or items are taken on the excursion (first aid
kit, personal medication, medical management plans, mobile phone, emergency contact
lists, etc.).
Educators
• ensure the excursion is carried out in line with the Excursion policy and procedures
• ensure all children attending the excursion have written authorisation from families to
attend prior to the excursion
• conduct a risk assessment for an excursion, ensuring any risks are managed (prior to
obtaining written authorisation from families)
• ensure a new risk assessment is completed when circumstances change for regular
outings
• ensure the required educator to child ratios are in place and children are supervised at all
times
• undertake regular attendance checks to account for all children
• ensure family members and volunteers attending the excursion understand your
expectations and are not le alone with any child or group of children
• ensure all children’s health and medical needs are taken on the excursion (first aid kit,
personal medication, medical managements plans, etc.).
Families
• sign the authorisation forms for their child to attend the excursion and ensure all
information required is up-to-date
• provide written authorisation for their child to leave the service premises on regular
outings
• be aware of all the information about the excursion – ask questions if needed
• if volunteering on excursions, understand the details of the excursion and the
expectations and supervision responsibilities
• ensure required medication for their child is in date and available to take on an excursion.
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The following table will assist you in developing procedures specific to your service’s needs and context. Referring to
the Education and Care Services National Regulations when you are writing your procedures will assist you to ensure
that you are meeting your obligations.
Areas to
include in your
procedures
Things to consider and outline in each area
(this will be specific to the context of your service)
Strategies for monitoring and
implementing procedures
Related policy and/
or procedures
Plans for before
the excursion
Regs: 89, 90, 99,
100, 101, 102, 168,
170, 171, 172
QA2
QA3: 3.2.1
QA4: 4.1
QA5
QA6
QA7: 7.1.2
• How you intend to meet the regulations
related to excursions.
• The information required to plan your
excursion.
• Undertaking risk assessments that will
identify potential risks of the excursion,
travel requirements and destination.
• Implement systems to reflect on
supervision plans/ratio checks.
• How the children will be transitioned
from the service to the excursion,
including to and from any vehicles.
• The grouping of children and
supervision plans, including considering
children with specific behavioural, social,
emotional or physical needs.
• What specific children need, e.g. medical
management plans and medication.
• How you will inform all educators, sta
and volunteers of their responsibilities
on the excursion.
• How you will inform families about your
excursion.
• Who you will contact in the event of an
emergency and how you contact them.
• Ensuring written authorisation is
received for children to participate in the
excursion.
• Make sure your policy and
procedures are available for
all to access.
• Consider creating an
excursion checklist of
all tasks/items needed
throughout the process, and
provide this to relevant sta
and educators.
• Ensure risk assessments are
carried out and reviewed as
required.
• Regularly reflect on
supervision plans and ratio
checks.
• Create an excursion run
sheet and ensure each adult
has a copy.
• Ensure all educators, sta
and volunteers understand
each step of the procedures.
• Undertake an excursion
supervision induction for
volunteers.
• Ensure the policy and
procedures are part of
educator and sta induction
training, and regularly
reviewed at team meetings.
Providing a child
safe environment
Dealing with
medical conditions
in children
Enrolment and
orientation
Incident, injury,
trauma and illness
Water safety
Sun protection
Acceptance
and refusal of
authorisations
Safe transportation
of children
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Excursions
Areas to
include in your
procedures
Things to consider and outline in each area
(this will be specific to the context of your service)
Strategies for monitoring and
implementing procedures
Related policy and/
or procedures
Plans for during
the excursion
Regs: 89, 90, 99,
100, 101, 102
QA2
QA3: 3.2.1
QA4: 4.1
QA5
QA6
QA7: 7.1.2
• The step-by-step actions that need to
happen, and items needed, prior to,
during and on return from the excursion.
This includes documentation that will
need to be ready on the day, bags,
spare clothes, food, hygiene equipment,
contact lists, phone, first aid kits, etc.
• How children are supervised and
accounted for and actions to be taken
in the event there are unaccounted for
children.
• How you will reinforce clear expectations
with all attending the excursion on the
day.
• Excursion timeline, outline
or checklist.
• Clearly defined roles and
responsibility statements,
e.g. assigning certain
educators and sta to
check first aid kits, ensure
medication required by
children attending is taken
and stored appropriately,
check protective equipment,
supervision.
Sun protection
Water safety
The administration
of first aid
Incident, injury,
trauma and illness
Emergency and
evacuation
Providing a child
safe environment
Dealing with
medical conditions
in children
Delivery of children
to, and collection
from, education
and care service
premises
Safe transportation
of children
Plans for aer
the excursion
Regs: 89, 99, 100,
101, 102
QA1
QA2
QA7: 7.1.2
• How the children will be transitioned
from the excursion back to the service,
including to and from any vehicles.
• The process for a family member or
authorised nominee to collect a child
directly from the excursion.
• How to review any actions taken by
educators during the excursion, e.g.
first aid given, if a medical professional
was contacted, if a family member was
contacted.
• How you will evaluate the value of the
excursion and document any issues that
need to be noted for the future.
• Ensure any consumables are
replenished, e.g. excursion bag, first aid
kits, hygiene equipment.
• Consider creating an
Excursion Review template
that reflects on the
educational value and the
health and safety issues that
need to be noted for future
excursions.
• Develop systems to report
items that need to be
purchased to replenish
consumables.
Incident, injury,
trauma and illness
Governance and
management
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Excursions
5. Procedures created/reviewed
Include the date the procedures were created or
reviewed.
6. Monitoring, evaluation and review
Your service, in consultation with educators and other
key sta, families and other stakeholders, should
review the eectiveness of these procedures within a
set timeframe or earlier if there is a change in relevant
legislation.
State when the procedures will be reviewed and who
will be responsible for this.
7. Checklist
Do the Excursion procedures align with your
Excursions policy?
Have your procedures been written in plain
English and can they be easily implemented by an
educator or sta new to your service?
Is it clear who is responsible for the
implementation of the procedures?
Are all educators and sta aware of the procedures
and can they implement them if required?
Do you need to develop any resources to monitor
and record the procedures?
USEFUL RESOURCES
Include links to useful resources that have helped
inform the development of your policy. Be mindful of
the existence of any state or territory specific content.
Some examples include, but are not limited to:
• ACECQA – Excursion risk assessment template
acecqa.gov.au/media/22736
• ACECQA – Guide to the National Quality Framework
acecqa.gov.au/nqf/about/guide
• ACECQA – Opening a new service
acecqa.gov.au/resources/opening-a-new-service
• ACECQA – Plan your adventure
acecqa.gov.au/newsletters/acecqa-newsletter-
issue-1-2015
• ACECQA – Risk assessment and management
acecqa.gov.au/media/29421
• Queensland Government – Excursions and
regularoutings
earlychildhood.qld.gov.au/legislationAndGuidelines/
PPORresources/Fact%20sheets/excursions-regular-
outings-NQF.docx
• Queensland Government – Template excursion risk
assessment
earlychildhood.qld.gov.au/legislationAndGuidelines/
ECSactresources/Templates/ecs-excursion.doc
