Compare Cert 3 Early Childhood Training Providers in South Australia

If you are weighing Cert 3 early childhood in South Australia, three local details are worth knowing: the regulatory framework for early childhood services, the working with children check and the Skills SA subsidy. This page explains each one using the South Australian Government’s own wording and links to the official pages. It also shows how to use the comparison table if you live in South Australia.

Compare Cert 3 early childhood training providers in South Australia

The table lists the training providers we have researched for the Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care (CHC30125). For most of them we could not confirm from public information which states they serve, so the same list appears on every state and territory page. Use each row to prompt a question: does this training provider take students in South Australia, and does its published fee apply to me?

If you plan to study from home, our page on online study options explains the formats and the parts of the course that still happen in person.

The South Australian regulatory framework

The Education Standards Board publishes the early childhood services regulatory and quality assurance framework for South Australia, together with a Regulatory Practice Statement. Both are on its website, with guidance for the organisations that run early childhood education and care services. You can browse them on the Education Standards Board website. These documents set out how services are regulated, and the services they cover are the kind where learners complete the qualification’s work placement.

The working with children check in SA

South Australia calls it the working with children check. The state describes it as a checking process undertaken by the Department of Human Services Screening Unit. It states that the check must be updated every 5 years. It also states that a volunteer check is not valid for paid employment, which is worth noting if you plan to move from volunteering to paid work in a service.

Read the official working with children checks page for the current process. Our work placement guide explains the 160 hours of placement that the qualification requires and why you should ask each training provider when it expects your check to be in place.

Skills SA subsidised training

Skills SA runs the My Training website. On its subsidised training page, the South Australian Government states that it pays part of your accredited course fees. That wording describes a part payment, not a free course, and it does not tell you how much a particular course costs.

The My Training page for the Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care uses the older code, CHC30121. It states that the course is being phased out and will eventually be replaced by CHC30125. The National Training Register shows the new code as equivalent to the old one, but you should confirm with Skills SA and the training provider how the subsidy applies to a course under the new code. See the subsidised training page and the course page. Our free and subsidised study guide compares every state and territory.

Questions to ask before you enrol

• Do you take students in South Australia, and does the published fee apply to me?
• Is a Skills SA subsidy available for this course, and how much would I still pay?
• Who finds the 160-hour work placement, and does it cost extra?
• When must my working with children check be in place?
• Is first aid part of the fee?

Nearby jurisdictions and related pages

South Australia borders Victoria and Western Australia. If you live near either border, you may want to read about both. To see every training provider and every column together, return to the full comparison.