Childcare infectious disease rules in Western Australia

Who regulates childcare in WA

The Education and Care Regulatory Unit (ECRU), part of the Department of Communities, is the regulatory authority for the National Quality Framework in Western Australia.

Where exclusion guidance comes from

The WA Department of Health publishes the Control of communicable diseases manual for teachers, childcare workers, local governments and health practitioners (updated July 2023). For each disease it covers how it spreads, the infectious period and any recommended exclusion. It also points to the NHMRC's Staying healthy for more detail.

The manual notes that for some infections, how long a child is excluded can depend on their immunisation status. For gastroenteritis, it recommends excluding until symptoms have stopped for at least 24 hours, or 48 hours for people at higher risk of spreading it — a group that includes children in childcare and food handlers.

When to contact the public health unit

WA Health says childcare centres should notify their local public health unit if there is a suspected outbreak of gastroenteritis. The manual also asks services to contact the unit if a child is diagnosed with an important infection such as measles, meningococcal disease or whooping cough, or if any outbreak is detected.

Doctors and nurse practitioners have the legal duty to notify the Department of Health when they diagnose a notifiable disease, but the public health unit relies on services to flag clusters early.

Finding your public health unit

WA has public health units across the state. In Perth, the Boorloo (Perth) Public Health Unit is on 1300 62 32 92. HealthyWA lists the regional units, so keep your unit's number in your outbreak plan.

Also on WA Health's list for services

• Encourage children to be fully immunised for their age, and keep a register of immunisation status for use in an outbreak.
• Children and staff should stay home while infectious.
• Use good hand hygiene, cleaning and the gastroenteritis infection control fact sheet.

Your part

Follow your service's exclusion policy, record every illness, and tell your nominated supervisor about clusters straight away.