Buyer's Guide · Children's Services Award

Best HR & Compliance Software for Childcare & OSHC in Australia

Choosing HR and compliance software for long day care, preschools, kindergartens and outside-school-hours care providers? The single most important factor is whether it actually understands your award — the Children's Services Award (MA000120). Here is what to look for, and how Fitz HR compares.

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What to look for

For a childcare service, generic HR software is the wrong tool for the most expensive risk you carry: getting the award wrong. When you compare options, weigh these first:

How Fitz HR compares
What mattersFitz HRGeneric HR platforms
Grounded in the Children's Services AwardYes — every answer cites MA000120 from the current FWO Pay GuideGeneric HR content; award detail is shallow or absent
Correct pay, penalties & allowancesExact Children's Services Award figures, updated at the annual wage reviewOften generic or manual; easy to misapply
Accuracy checked before launchRegression-tested against the Pay GuideNot published
Award-correct documentschildcare service contracts, warnings & letters reflecting Children's Services Award rulesTemplate library, not award-reasoned
Crisis ModeImmediate, award-grounded steps for urgent situationsNo equivalent
Setup & priceAsk a question — no implementation project; free to startImplementation typical; per-seat pricing
The verdict

If your priority is staying compliant under the Children's Services Award, the best HR software for a childcare service is one built to answer from that award. Fitz HR is award-aware, accuracy-gated and free to start — purpose-built for exactly this, not adapted from a generic platform.

Explore
Overview

Children's Services Award for your business

The live scenarios, wizard, document builder and Crisis Mode, built for your vertical.
Pay Rates

Children's Services Award Pay Rates 2026

Current classification rates, penalties and allowances from the FWO Pay Guide.
Guide

Children's Services Award Guide (MA000120)

The complete reference — coverage, classifications, penalties, allowances and compliance.
Compare

Fitz HR vs Employment Hero

How Fitz compares for childcare services on the Children's Services Award.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best HR software for childcare services in Australia?
For award compliance, the best HR software is one that grounds every answer in your specific award. Fitz HR is award-aware for the Children's Services Award (MA000120) — it returns exact pay rates, penalties and allowances and builds childcare service documents that reflect the award, rather than a generic template.
Why does award-aware HR software matter for childcare services?
Because childcare services are covered by the Children's Services Award MA000120, and getting classifications, penalties or allowances wrong is the fastest route to a Fair Work underpayment claim. Generic HR platforms rarely reason about a specific award; Fitz answers from MA000120 directly.
Does Fitz HR replace payroll for a childcare service?
Fitz focuses on award interpretation, compliance answers, document building and crisis response. Many operators run it alongside their payroll system for fast, Children's Services Award-accurate answers. Compare the current Fitz HR pricing to a per-seat HR platform quote.
How much does HR compliance software cost for a childcare service?
Fitz HR is free to start, with paid plans published transparently at fitzhr.com/pricing — no sales call, no lock-in. That is typically a fraction of the cost of a single unfair dismissal claim.

Try it on your own Children's Services Award question

Ask Fitz anything about MA000120 — pay, penalties, allowances or compliance — and judge the software yourself.

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Best HR software for Childcare & OSHC? →