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| Move towards NQF for BBF services
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Budget Based Funded (BBF) child care services will be required to progressively work towards meeting the quality standards required under the NQF under a Government decision to action the recommendations of a recent review of BBF services.
340 BBF services across Australia currently deliver child care, early learning and outside school hours care in rural and remote areas where it might not otherwise be viable. About 66 percent of children attending BBFs are Indigenous.
Unlike most child care services, most BBF services are not currently required to comply with the mandatory quality standards set by the NQF and Assistant Minister for Education Ms Sussan Ley said she was concerned this would create a two-tier system of care.
"In recent decades, BBF services have provided important support for communities where traditional child care services haven't been viable or available," Ms Ley said.
"We also recognise, and are sensitive to, the cultural significance many of these services have to families and their local communities.
"However, the way we view child care as a nation has changed significantly in recent years with the introduction of the National Quality Framework and we want to make sure no service is left behind".
"This is about empowering BBF services and the communities they support with the tools to continue building on the quality education and care they already deliver."
"We are conscious that, just like other child care services, it will take time for services to meet the requirements of the National Quality Framework, which is why this will be a progressive change," Ms Ley said.
Ms Ley said the Government would also provide enhanced support to help BBF services to further improve quality service delivery, including:
- Extending the Professional Support Coordinators (PSCs) Programme to deliver additional support to all BBF services to assist with the quality improvements, including the new requirement for all BBF services to develop a Quality Improvement Plan.
- Extending the Indigenous Professional Support Units Programme to deliver improved support to remote Indigenous-focussed BBF services to improve quality delivery, as well as improving governance, leadership and professional development of their staff.
- Extending the Remote Indigenous Professional Development Project to deliver direct support to Indigenous early childhood educators in remote areas in Qld and WA to interpret and deliver the educational programmes.
Ms Ley said the decision to further align BBF services with the NQF came following consultation in 33 locations, as well as more than 400 face-to-face interviews with local communities and Indigenous and child care stakeholders and 38 submissions.
A copy of the BBF Programme Review - including the full list of recommendations - is available from www.education.gov.au
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