NQF Snapshot Q4 2021

1 NQF Snapshot Q4 2021A quarterly report from the Australian Children s Education and Care Quality Authority February 2022 page 2 NQF Snapshot Q4 2021 Overview 3 Snapshot highlights 4 Profile of the sector 5 Progress of assessment and rating 11 Service visits 12 Draft and final reports, and reviews 13 Quality improvement 14 Overall quality ratings 15 Quality area ratings 18 Standard level ratings under the 2018 NQS 19 Element level results under the 2018 NQS 20 Services rated Working Towards NQS 21 Services rated Exceeding NQS 21 Jurisdiction summaries 22 Table of contents page 3 NQF Snapshot Q4 2021 NQF Snapshot Q4 2021 is ACECQA s 36th national report on children s education and care services operating under the National Quality Framework (NQF).

2 It provides analysis and information on the profile of the sector and the quality ratings of services against the National Quality Standard (NQS). A revised version of the NQS commenced on 1 February 2018. The number of quality standards has reduced from 18 to 15, and the number of quality elements has reduced from 58 to changes streamlined the NQS and reduced overlap between elements and standards. Analysis at the standard and element level uses quality ratings against the 2018 NQS only, while analysis at the overall and quality area level uses all current quality ratings against both the 2012 and 2018 interactive online version of the Snapshot , which includes additional analysis, is available on the ACECQA data presented in this Snapshot was taken from the National Quality Agenda IT System (NQA ITS) at 00:30 on 1 January to rounding, individual percentages in the tables and figures may not add up to 100%.

3 On 2 April 2020, in recognition of the COVID-19 global pandemic, Education Ministers announced four critical areas for time-limited regulatory action, including the suspension of assessment and ratings. This resulted in a stark decline in assessment and rating visits in Q2 2020 (see Figure 10). Regulatory authorities have now recommenced the assessment and rating process as than 1,100 centre-based service closures related to the impact of COVID-19 were recorded in the NQA ITS at the start of three consecutive weeks in March/April 2020. There were just under 400 centre-based service closures at the start of January 2022, with the majority of these being long day care services (see Figure 9). Up-to-date information is available via the service and temporary closure mapping tool on the ACECQA Snapshot Q4 2021 Figure 1.

4 Number of approved services and number of services with a quality rating by quarter children s education and care services approved to operate under the NQFservices with a quality ratingservices with a quality rating of Meeting NQS or above providers approved to operate providers approved to operate only one service services rated Excellent by ACECQA1quality rating reassessments completedof services rated Working Towards NQS improved their overall quality rating at reassessmentservices with a quality rating against the 2018 NQS Snapshot highlights Number of services with a quality rating Number of approved services16,627 15,441 (93%) 13,372 (87%) 72745838 (80%) 3714,05467%10,756 (65%)1 The Excellent rating is awarded for a period of three years. Unless a reapplication for the Excellent rating is received, a service s rating will revert back to Exceeding NQS after this three year period.

5 The Snapshot includes the current number of Excellent rated page 5 NQF Snapshot Q4 2021 Profile of the sectorFigure 2: Number of approved services by jurisdiction and service type 1 A centre-based service is an education and care service other than a family day care service. This includes most long day care, preschool and outside school hours care services that are delivered at a centre. It does not include Tasmanian preschools/kindergartens and most preschools/kindergartens in Western Australia that are outside the scope of the NQF, as well as other services that aren t regulated under the National A family day care service is an education and care service delivered through a network of educators operating from residences and other approved venues.

6 They are sometimes known as family day care schemes and they are administered and supported by central coordination Centre-based (CB) 116,133 (97%)Total16,6272% Increase on Q4 2020 Total Family day care (FDC) 2 494 (3%)2% Increase on Q4 2020-3% Decrease on Q4 2020 Total3110CB 2991 FDC 119 Total5733CB 5586 FDC 147 Total1230CB 1218 FDC 12 Total1299CB 1260 FDC 39 Total223CB 220 FDC 3 Total225CB 215 FDC 10 Total4435CB 4278 FDC 157 Total372CB 365 FDC 7 page 6 NQF Snapshot Q4 2021 Figure 4: Proportion of services rated Exceeding NQS or above by overall rating and quality area Figure 3: Proportion of services rated Meeting NQS or above by overall rating and quality area57%87%67%90%75%92%71%95%88%96%85%97% 83%97%74%91%50%60%70%80%90%100%Q3Q4Q1Q2Q 3Q4Q1Q2Q3Q4Q1Q2Q3Q4Q1Q2Q3Q4Q1Q2Q3Q4Q1Q2Q 3Q4Q1Q2Q3Q4Q1Q2Q3Q4201320142015201620172 018201920202021 OverallQA1QA2QA3QA4QA5QA6QA723%27%22%26% 21%18%21%22%27%35%30%31%32%24%0%10%20%30 %40%50%Q3Q4Q1Q2Q3Q4Q1Q2Q3Q4Q1Q2Q3Q4Q1Q2Q 3Q4Q1Q2Q3Q4Q1Q2Q3Q4Q1Q2Q3Q4Q1Q2Q3Q420132 0142015201620172018201920202021 OverallQA1QA2QA3QA4QA5QA6QA7 page 7 NQF Snapshot Q4 2021 Table 1: Number of services by service sub-type and jurisdiction 1 NQA ITS data collected on service sub-type is self-reported by providers when applying for service approval, and providers may choose multiple service sub-types.

7 For example, a service providing both long day care and outside school hours care, or one providing both long day care and Providers are not required to notify changes to this information, and therefore this NQA ITS information may not be Centre-based services offering more than one type of service are classified as follows: services which provide long day care in addition to any other service type are classified as long day care services; services which provide preschool/kindergarten as well as outside school hours care are classified as preschool/kindergarten services; services which provide outside school hours care only are classified as outside school hours care Excludes Tasmanian preschools/kindergartens and most preschools/kindergartens in Western Australia that are outside the scope of the NQF, as well as other services that aren t regulated under the National Two services categorised as 'Other' excluded for graphical 5.

8 Proportion of services by service sub-type and jurisdiction 1,2,3,4,5 Family day careLong day care Preschool/KindergartenOutside school hours careOtherTota lACT7173891030372 NSW1473343767147605733NT39075541223 QLD119173149176903110SA1243440737701230 TAS101300850225 VIC15717771185131604435WA397631947711299 TOTAL494844130334657216,627 Long day care Preschool/Kindergarten Outside school hours care Family day care51%47%58%41%56%35%58%40%59%18%24%13% 34%16%33%27%1%28%28%26%24%25%31%38%30%37 %3%2%3%1%4%1%4%4%3%0%20%40%60%80%100%Tot alACTNSWNTQLDSATASVICWA page 8 NQF Snapshot Q4 2021 Figure 6: Proportion of services by provider management type 1,2,3 1 NQA ITS data collected on provider management type is self-reported by providers when applying for provider approval.

9 Providers are not required to notify changes to this information, and therefore this NQA ITS information may not be Provider management type classifications are available at Australian Bureau of Statistics (2013) National Early Childhood Education and Care Collection: Data Collection Guide, 2013 (Cat. No. ). 3 16 services categorised as 'Not stated/Other' excluded for graphical purposes. Provider management typeNumber of servicesProportion of servicesPrivate for profit834150%Private not for profit community managed340520%Private not for profit other organisations226114%State/Territory and Local Government managed12067%State/Territory government schools6844%Independent schools4953%Catholic schools2191%Not stated/Other160%Tota l 16,627 100%Table 2.

10 Number and proportion of services by provider management type50%20%14%7%4%3%1%Private for profitPrivate not for profit community managedPrivate not for profit other organisationsState/Territory and Local Government managedState/Territory government schoolsIndependent schoolsCatholic schools page 9 NQF Snapshot Q4 2021 Figure 7 shows that 80% of approved providers operate a single service while 1% of approved providers operate 25 or more services. Figure 7: Proportion of approved providers by size Large (25 or more services)Medium (2 -24 services)Small (1 service)80%19%1%Providers approved to operate under the NQF7274 Large (25 or more services)Medium (2 -24 services)Small (1 service)35%31%34%Services approved to operate under the NQF16,627 Figure 8 shows that 35% of approved services are operated by small approved providers while 34% of approved services are operated by large approved providers.