Diploma of Early Childhood Education and Care

The Diploma of Early Childhood Education and Care is a one-year qualification for people who want to work with children from birth to five years in Australian early learning services. You study how children grow and learn, how to plan and run a play-based curriculum, how to keep children safe, and how to work with families and communities. The course mixes classroom learning with long blocks of professional experience in a registered early childhood service, so you spend real time in rooms with real children before you finish.

Australian diplomas sit at Level 5 on the Australian Qualifications Framework. A diploma is usually one to two years of full-time study, made up of units of study, each with a set number of credit points. At this college the diploma runs for one year. You complete the units in sequence, and the practical placement units are assessed on site by a supervisor as well as your college assessor. There is no research thesis at diploma level, but the placement blocks act as the practical capstone: you take responsibility for planning and running parts of the programme under supervision.

Work-integrated learning is central here, not an add-on. Placement happens in licensed early childhood services, and you are expected to meet the same standards as paid staff while you are there. You will be assessed on how you interact with children, how you document their learning, how you respond to behaviour, and how you follow workplace health and safety, child protection and hygiene rules. The skills you build are practical: observing and recording children's development, designing experiences that match their interests and stages, communicating with families, working in a team, and understanding the National Quality Framework and the Early Years Learning Framework that shape Australian services.

This course suits school leavers who want a hands-on career with children, career changers moving into education, and people already working in childcare who need a formal qualification to move into a room leader or educator role. It also suits international students who want an Australian qualification in a field with steady demand. You need to meet the college's English requirement, and you should check the official CRICOS register and the college page for the exact tuition, intake dates, placement requirements and any state-based working with children check. While you study, your Student visa allows up to 48 hours of work per fortnight, and after you finish you may be eligible for the Temporary Graduate visa (subclass 485) post-study work stream, depending on your circumstances.

• Early childhood educator in long day care, preschool, kindergarten or occasional care services.
• Room leader or lead educator in an early learning centre, responsible for planning and documenting the programme for a group of children.
• Family day care educator running your own approved home-based service.
• Outside school hours care educator in before-school, after-school and vacation care programmes.
• Inclusion support worker assisting children with additional needs in mainstream services.
• Nanny or in-home carer for families, though this often sits outside the licensed care system.

These roles are found across Australia in private and community early learning centres, local government preschools, school-based kindergartens, and not-for-profit providers. Demand is steady because licensed services must meet educator-to-child ratios, and qualified staff are needed to fill those places. Check with the college and the relevant state or territory regulator about what the diploma lets you do, and confirm registration or working with children check requirements before you enrol.