Childcare plays a key role in young children’s early development and education, so it’s essential they receive high-quality education and care within a safe environment. That’s where ACECQA comes into play.
As a key player within the early childhood education and care sector, ACECQA plays a number of roles and functions. Watch our video to learn more:
Read on to learn more about ACECQA.
What is ACECQA?
The Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority, or ACECQA for short (pronounced a-see-kwa), is an independent national authority that’s responsible for assisting state and territory governments in delivering the National Quality Framework (NQF) for children's education and care.
Beyond administering the NQF, ACECQA is responsible for several key functions, including:
- Setting and reviewing the National Quality Standard (NQS),
- Coordinating quality assessments and rating services against the NQS,
- Providing training and support to help providers understand and comply with the NQF,
- Regulating provider qualifications,
- Conducting research and providing advocacy,
- Engaging with families and communities, and
- Managing a national register of approved early childhood education and care providers.
Understanding the National Quality Framework (NQF)
Established in 2012, the National Quality Framework (NQF) is a comprehensive regulatory framework that sets a consistent, high standard for early childhood education and care services across Australia.
The NQF applies to a range of early childhood services, including:
- Centre-based day care,
- Family day care services,
- Preschools and kindergartens, and
- Outside school hours care services.
The NQF encompasses several key components, including:
- National Law and National Regulations,
- National Quality Standard,
- Assessment and quality rating process, and
- National learning frameworks.
Let’s take a closer look at each of these elements.
National Law and Regulations
The NQF is underpinned by two national laws: the Education and Care Services National Law and the Education and Care Services National Regulations. These laws provide regulatory standards and set requirements for provider licensing, staffing, educator qualifications and service safety.
While there are some varied provisions across the different states and territories, having a national law and regulations in place ensures consistency across the jurisdictions.
National Quality Standard (NQS)
The NQS is a set of benchmarks for the quality of education and care services. It covers seven quality areas that contribute to positive outcomes for children, including:
- Quality Area 1 – Educational program and practice,
- Quality Area 2 – Children's health and safety,
- Quality Area 3 – Physical environment,
- Quality Area 4 – Staffing arrangements,
- Quality Area 5 – Relationships with children,
- Quality Area 6 – Collaborative partnerships with families and communities, and
- Quality Area 7 – Governance and leadership.
Assessment and quality rating process
Services are assessed and rated by state and territory regulatory authorities on their compliance with the NQS. Services receive a rating for each of the seven quality areas. Based on their performance across the different quality areas, providers receive an overall rating ranging from ‘Significant Improvement Required’ to ‘Excellent.’
Early childhood education and care providers must display their rating at the service at all times. These quality ratings are also available to view at any time on the national registers and StartingBlocks.gov.au.
National learning frameworks
Under the National Law, services are required to provide an educational program for all children in their care that:
- Is grounded in an approved learning framework,
- Aligns with the guidelines of that approved framework,
- Reflects each child’s developmental needs, interests, and experiences, and
- Is tailored to consider each child’s unique differences.
There are two nationally approved learning frameworks that operate under the NQF, including:
- Belonging, Being and Becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia (EYLF) V2.0 2022: National approved learning framework under the NQF for young children from birth to 5 years of age, and
- My Time Our Place: Framework for School Age Care in Australia V2.0 2022: National approved learning framework under the NQF for school-age children.
Both learning frameworks set out principles, practices and learning outcomes that support educational leaders and educators in making curriculum decisions. These frameworks are in place to help them plan, implement and assess high-quality programs in early childhood and school-age settings.
Resources and support offered by ACECQA
ACECQA provides a wide range of resources and support to help early childhood education and care services, educators, families and communities understand and implement the NQF effectively.
Here’s an overview of some of the main types of support and resources offered through ACECQA.
Guidance on National Quality Standards (NQS)
ACECQA offers in-depth guides on the NQS, detailing each of the seven quality areas and how services can meet or exceed the standards. These guides help services understand assessment criteria and prepare for evaluations.
Not to mention, the Guide to the NQS provides comprehensive information on requirements, processes and standards under the NQF.
Professional development resources for educators
ACECQA provides free elearning modules that cover different aspects of the NQF, including an introduction to the children's education and care sector and an overview of the NQF, the relevant laws and regulations and the NQS.
ACECQA also puts on a number of workshops and webinars throughout the year that address topics such as curriculum development, compliance and leadership, equipping educators with tools and knowledge to improve service quality.
Support for Quality Improvement Plans (QIPs)
ACECQA provides templates, examples and best-practice tips to assist services in developing Quality Improvement Plans (QIPs), which are essential for continuous improvement.
It also offers guidance on identifying areas for improvement, setting achievable goals and measuring progress toward these goals.
Resources for families
ACECQA provides family-friendly guides explaining the NQF, the importance of quality care, and how to interpret service ratings. These resources help families make informed choices about childcare services.
ACECQA’s StartingBlocks.gov.au website has been specifically developed for families, providing tips on choosing a service, understanding the NQS and preparing children for early learning.
Qualification guidance and recognition
ACECQA maintains a list of approved qualifications and provides information on pathways for those pursuing careers in early childhood education. As part of its role, ACECQA assesses qualifications obtained overseas, supporting educators trained internationally to work in Australia.
Templates and practical tools
ACECQA offers a number of sample forms and templates for providers to use and amend as needed. They include incident records, risk assessment templates, medication records and other records. These tools help services meet regulatory requirements and ensure consistency in their operations.
Compliance Support Pathway
The Compliance Support Pathway is a free professional development and support program that helps education and care services establish and enhance processes and systems to ensure safety and compliance with the National Law and Regulations.
Publications and newsletters
ACECQA publishes regular news updates for providers online. They also have a newsletter that providers can subscribe to, as well as their blog, We hear you. The We hear you blog includes feature articles and guest posts from a variety of contributors offering unique perspectives from the children's education and care sector.
National registers
The national registers contain information about approved education and care services and providers, including their quality rating. These registers are updated each day based on data from the National Quality Agenda IT System.
ACECQA plays a vital role in ensuring providers offer consistent, high-quality early childhood education and care services across the country. For more information, visit the ACECQA website.
