How Work Placement Works in Cert 3 Early Childhood Education

Work placement is the part of the course where you practise in a real children’s education and care service. This guide explains the Cert 3 early childhood work placement: the hours the qualification requires, what the National Training Register says about preparation, how to read the Work Placement column in our table and what to ask a training provider. All details were checked on 1 November 2026 and can change.

What is the Cert 3 early childhood work placement?

The Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care (CHC30125) includes a work placement. You complete it in a regulated children’s education and care service in Australia, and it counts towards the units that have a workplace requirement. The placement is part of the qualification, so you cannot skip it, whichever training provider you choose and whether you study online or on campus.

How many hours of placement does Cert 3 early childhood require?

The National Training Register states a minimum of 160 hours of work in a regulated children’s education and care service in Australia. The register also states that the hours may be applied collectively across all of the units that carry a workplace requirement. That means the 160 hours are a shared total, not 160 hours for every unit.

A training provider can describe its own requirement in its own words. For example, Monarch Institute’s course page mentions 200 hours of placement, while the register states a minimum of 160 hours. If you see two figures, ask the training provider to explain the difference in writing.

National Child Safety Training and checks before placement

The register states that you must complete the National Child Safety Training before you begin any placement hours. It is separate from the units in the qualification. In addition, each state and territory has a check for people who work with children, which is described below. Ask your training provider when each requirement must be complete, so that you know the order in which to do things.

Do you have to find your own placement?

It depends on the training provider, which is why we show the information in a column. The training providers in our table describe four different approaches.

• Help finding a placement. Several training providers state that they help. Kirana Colleges states that students make the first approach and that its Industry Pathways Team will step in if a suitable placement is not found. NCVE states that it finds and arranges the placement. ITAC states that it provides placement support and can assist students to secure a suitable placement. The Performance College states that it arranges your placement and has partner sites across Victoria.
• Help for a fee. Monarch Institute states that its Placement Matching Service guarantees to find you an approved placement for an administrative fee of $250.
• You organise it. ACTAC states that learners need to organise their own placement at a site that meets its requirements. ACCSC states the same, and it also lists a separate $299 Work Placement Support service. CQUniversity states that students are required to find placement, and that staff can assist where needed.
• Not clear. AIPC’s page refers to a 160-hour placement and to practical work placement opportunities, but it does not say who arranges it.

ACTAC and ACCSC also state that you need confirmed access to a suitable workplace before you are accepted into the course.

How to read the Work Placement column

The Work Placement column in our comparison table uses four states:

• Tick, “Help you to find one”. The training provider states that it helps students find a work placement.
• Dollar sign, “Extra cost”. The training provider helps, for an additional fee.
• Cross, “You’re on your own”. The training provider expects students to find their own placement. Some cells in this state also have a note, because a training provider may offer optional or on-request help while still expecting you to arrange your own.
• Question mark, “Unknown”. We could not confirm it from the training provider’s public information. This does not mean the training provider lacks help. It means you should ask.

A tick is a statement about help, not a guarantee of a particular placement, a particular location or a particular start date.

When to arrange your placement

Ask before you enrol. Ask how and when the placement is arranged, how long it usually takes to confirm one, and what happens if a suitable service cannot be found. If you must organise your own placement, as ACTAC and ACCSC describe, confirm with the training provider what the service has to provide before you commit.

Working with children checks by state and territory

Every jurisdiction has its own scheme, with its own name and rules. Read the page for your state or territory for the official source:

• New South Wales: the Working With Children Check, run by the Office of the Children’s Guardian, lasting 5 years.
• Victoria: the Working with Children Check, with mandatory WWC Child Safety Training required for applicants from 19 October 2026.
• Queensland: the blue card, issued by Blue Card Services.
• Western Australia: the Working with Children Check, run by the WWC Screening Unit.
• South Australia: the working with children check, run by the Department of Human Services Screening Unit and updated every 5 years.
• Tasmania: Registration to Work with Vulnerable People, valid for 5 years.
• Australian Capital Territory: a background check and registration to work with vulnerable people.
• Northern Territory: the working with children clearance, also known as the Ochre Card, valid for two years.

Questions to ask a training provider about placement

1. Who arranges my placement, and is there a fee for that help?
2. Do I need to have a service lined up before I enrol?
3. How many hours does the course require, and how are they recorded?
4. Which checks and training must be complete before I start, and who pays for them?
5. What happens if I cannot find or keep a suitable service?
6. Is placement available where I live?
7. Does the fee include first aid and any practical sessions? Our cost guide explains what published fees can leave out.

Related guides

Placement affects how long the course takes. Read our guide to how long the course takes, browse all study guides, or return to the full comparison of training providers.