NQF changes from 1 October 2017
Published on Tuesday, 05 September 2017
Last updated on Thursday, 21 January 2021
Further changes to the National Quality Framework take effect from next month, 1 October, with another raft of changes scheduled for the beginning of February 2018.
The changes were agreed by Australian, state and territory ministers, in a move ACECQA says will ensure early childhood education and care in Australia continues to improve efficiently and effectively under the NQF.
Key changes
A revised National Quality Standard (NQS) to strengthen quality through greater clarity, remove conceptual overlap between elements and standards and clarify language.
- Improved oversight and support within Family Day Care to achieve better compliance and quality across the whole sector.
- Removing supervisor certificate requirements so service providers have more autonomy in deciding who can be the responsible person in each service, and to reduce red tape.
- Introduction of a national educator to child ratio of 1:15 for services providing education and care to school age children.
For detailed information about the changes check out ACECQA's Factsheet.
Timeframes
1 October 2017 – National Law and Regulations changes commence in all states and territories, except Western Australia. In Western Australia changes will commence by 1 October 2018 to allow for the legislation to pass through that parliament.
1 February 2018 – Revised National Quality Standard (NQS) commences in all states and territories, including Western Australia.
ACECQA have developed a range of online resources to help service providers understand the reason for the changes and ensure they are implemented with as little disruption as possible:
- a PowerPoint presentation outlining the key changes for centre-based and family day care services
- an information sheet explaining the revised National Quality Standard and other changes from 1 February 2018
- a copy of the revised National Quality Standard, in handout and poster formats
- a helpful comparison of the current and revised NQS
- frequently asked questions about the key changes to the NQF.
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