Early Childhood Education

National Quality Framework

The Australian Government, in partnership with all state and territory governments, is making important changes to early childhood education and care in Australia. This is being done through the introduction of a National Quality Framework which has been agreed by the Council of Australian Governments (COAG). The framework will be implemented progressively from 1 July 2010 with formal implementation from 1 January 2012.

The National Quality Framework will put in place a new National Quality Standard to ensure high quality and consistent early childhood education and care across Australia.

The new National Quality Standard is divided into seven areas that contribute to the quality of early childhood education and care. These areas have been identified by research and are:

Educational program and practice
Children’s health and safety
Physical environment
Staffing arrangements (including the number of staff looking after children)
Relationships with children
Collaborative partnerships with families and communities
Leadership and service management

Under each of these areas more detail is provided about what a service can do to provide the highest quality early childhood education and care for a child.

These changes will help providers to improve their services in the areas that impact on a child’s development and empower families to make informed choices about which service is best for their child.

Universal Access to Early Childhood Education (UAECE)

From the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development's Universal Access to 15 hours of Early Childhood Education: Frequently Asked Questions:

All states and territories have committed to moving to 15 hours of early childhood education for children in the year before school through a National Partnership on Early Childhood Education with the Commonwealth Government, to be implemented by 2013.

The National Partnership was signed in December 2008 with the aim that:

• By 2013 every child will have access to a preschool program in the 12 months prior to full-time schooling.

• The preschool program is to be delivered by a qualified early childhood teacher, in accordance with a national early years learning framework, for 15 hours a week, 40 weeks a year.

• The program will be accessible across a diversity of settings, in a form that meets the needs of parents and in a manner that ensures cost does not present a barrier to access.