What is a person with management or control?

Broadly, it is a person who participates in making decisions that affect the whole, or a substantial part, of an education and care service business, or who has the capacity to significantly affect its financial standing. Under the National Law the exact scope depends on your structure, so it is worth confirming who qualifies in your organisation.

Is a responsible person the same as a nominated supervisor?

Not exactly. 'Responsible person' is a defined category under the National Law that covers certain people who can be in charge of a service at a given time, such as an approved provider, a nominated supervisor, or a certified supervisor placed in day-to-day charge. A nominated supervisor is one type of person who can act as the responsible person.

Why does identifying these people matter for Provider Approval?

The regulator assesses whether relevant individuals are fit and proper to be involved in an education and care service. Naming the right people accurately, and providing the required information for each, is part of a complete application. Gaps or errors here are a common cause of delays and requests for further information.

Responsible Persons & Persons with Management or Control

Few parts of the Provider Approval process trip people up as often as the language around who is “behind” a service. The terms persons with management or control and responsible persons appear early in any application, and getting them right matters more than most new providers expect. Confuse the two, or leave someone out, and you can stall an otherwise strong application.

This article explains what each term broadly means under the National Law, why the regulator cares, and how to approach identifying the right people from the start.

Two different concepts, often confused

It helps to keep these as separate ideas, because they serve different purposes.

A person with management or control is about who steers the organisation. Broadly, this captures the people who participate in decisions affecting the whole, or a substantial part, of the service business, or who can significantly affect its financial standing. Depending on your structure, that might include company directors, members of a committee of management for an incorporated association, partners in a partnership, or a sole trader.

A responsible person is about who is in charge of the service at any given time. The National Law sets out a defined group of people who can fill this role, and a service is generally required to have one of them present and in charge during operation. This is an operational, on-the-ground concept rather than a governance one.

The distinction matters because the same person can wear more than one hat, or no second hat at all. A director who never sets foot in the service might be a person with management or control but not a responsible person. A nominated supervisor running the floor might be both.

Why structure drives the answer

There is no single correct list of names, because it depends entirely on how your organisation is set up. A family-run sole trader looks very different from a company with a board, which looks different again from a not-for-profit association governed by a committee.

This is why a generic template rarely works. The exercise is to look at your actual legal structure and ask, honestly, who genuinely makes the decisions and who controls the money. Those are the people the regulator wants to know about.

Why the regulator cares

Provider Approval exists to make sure that the people responsible for children’s education and care are suitable to hold that responsibility. That assessment is not limited to whoever signs the form.

The regulator considers whether relevant individuals are fit and proper to be involved in an education and care service. For an organisation, that naturally extends to the people who manage or control it, because their judgement, history, and integrity shape how the service will be run. You can read more about what that involves in our overview of the fit and proper person assessment.

In short, identifying persons with management or control is not box-ticking. It defines who the regulator is actually assessing. Name the wrong people, or miss someone, and the assessment is incomplete.

Who needs to be identified

While the precise requirements depend on your circumstances, the general principle is consistency: everyone who genuinely fits the definition should be named, and the required information should be provided for each of them.

A few practical prompts when working through it:

Look past job titles. Influence over whole-of-business decisions or finances matters more than what someone is called.
Include the quiet decision-makers. Silent partners, financial backers with real control, or family members who direct the organisation may still qualify.
Match your governing documents. The people named should align with your company, partnership, or association records.
Keep it current. If your structure changes, the people identified may need to change too.

What happens if you get it wrong

The most common consequence is delay. Incomplete or inconsistent information typically prompts the regulator to ask for more, which adds weeks while you gather details, certificates, or clarifications you could have provided up front.

In more serious cases, omissions can raise questions about transparency, which is precisely the opposite of the impression you want to make in a fit-and-proper context. It is far better to over-identify and clarify than to leave someone out.

Getting it right the first time

The good news is that this is entirely manageable with a bit of care. Start by mapping your legal structure, then list every person who makes whole-of-business decisions or controls finances. Cross-check that list against your governing documents, and prepare the required information for each person before you begin the application rather than scrambling mid-process.

If your structure is unusual, or you are simply unsure whether someone qualifies, that uncertainty is worth resolving early. A short conversation at the planning stage routinely saves weeks of back-and-forth later.

This guide is general information, not legal advice.

If you would like a second set of eyes on who to identify in your application, get in touch with our Provider Approval specialists. We will help you map your structure correctly and submit with confidence.