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Guide to National Quality Framework
Guide to the National Law and National Regulations
Guide to the National Quality Standard
Guide to Developing a Quality Improvement Plan
Quality Improvement Plan Template
In July 2009, the Australian Government, in partnership with state and territory governments through the Council of Australian Governments (COAG), endorsed Investing in the Early Years – A National Early Childhood Development Strategy. The strategy aims to ensure that ‘by 2020 all children have the best start in life to create a better future for themselves, and for the nation’.
The National Partnership Agreement on the National Quality Agenda for Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) established an integrated and unified national system for ECEC, which is jointly governed and drives continuous improvement in the quality of services—the National Quality Framework (NQF).
The NQF is a national system which guides the regulation and quality assessment of ECEC services in Australia. It applies to most ECEC services (long day care, family day care, preschool, kindergarten, and outside school hours care services), and includes:
Implementation of the NQF is overseen by regulatory authorities in each state and territory. The Australian Government has allocated $61.1 million over three years to June 2018 to support states and territories to implement the NQF.
The Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) is the national body that guides and reports on the NQF.
To find out more about the NQF or your local regulatory authority, visit the ACECQA website.
The Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) is a central element of the NQF.
The EYLF outlines the principles, practice and outcomes required to support and enhance young children’s learning from birth to five years of age, as well as their transition to school. For further information on the Early Years Learning Framework, click here.
The Australian Government has released the National Framework for School Age Care in Australia: 'My Time, Our Place'. The Framework will ensure that children in school age care will have opportunities to engage in leisure and play-based experiences which are responsive to the needs, interests and choices of the children attending the service and contribute fully to their ongoing development.
For more information on the Framework, resources and to participate in the online forum, please visit the 'My Time, Our Place' website.
In July 2009, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) endorsed a National Early Childhood Development Strategy – Investing in the Early Years which provides a shared vision for the development of young children in Australia “that by 2020 all children have the best start in life to create a better future for themselves and for the nation.”
To access the National Early Childhood Development Strategy, click here.
In September 2012, the Standing Council on School Education and Early Childhood published the Early Years Workforce Strategy. The Strategy builds on Investing in the Early Years - A National Early Childhood Development Strategy, and focuses on immediate priorities for the ECEC workforce and complements existing Commonwealth state and territory government measures aimed at improving the supply and quality of the early childhood education and care workforce. It also sets a long-term strategy that focuses on supporting more integrated ways of working across the ECEC sector.
For more information on the National Early Years Development Workforce Strategy, click here.
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