Access keys | Skip to primary navigation | Skip to secondary navigation | Skip to content | Skip to footer |
Problems viewing this site
Office for Early Childhood Education and Care > Service providers >

National Quality Framework

On 1 January 2012, the National Quality Framework (NQF) for early childhood education and care services was introduced.

The NQF is a new integrated national approach to the regulation and quality assessment processes for long day care, family day care, outside school hours care, pre-Prep and kindergarten services. This includes a new quality rating system for services and new national standards that include more educators to educate and care for children and enhanced educator qualification requirements.

Changes for Queensland

  1. New quality rating system: All services will be assessed against a National Quality Standard External Link (NQS) which evaluates services in seven quality areas as well as providing an overall service assessment. The first assessment visits will commence in June 2012. Following validation of the assessment and rating process, services will be required to display their NQS assessment rating and it will be published online - expected to occur in 2013. For more information see ACECQA's NQF Assessment and Rating Process webpage External Link and Assessment and Rating fact sheet Adobe PDF document External Link.
  2. More educators to look after children: The NQF will phase in nationally consistent ratios of educators to children. The first substantial change for Queensland services will occur in 2016.
  3. New educator qualification requirements: A new minimum Certificate III qualification will be introduced for all family day care educators and early childhood teachers will be required in all long day care and kindergarten services from 2014. Other qualification requirements mean minimal change to current Queensland requirements.
  4. Early years and school age care learning frameworks: The early years framework - Belonging, Being and Becoming: An Early Years Learning Framework for Australia Adobe PDF document External Link - provides a learning framework for nationally consistent and quality early childhood education across all settings throughout Australia. The My Time, Our Place: Framework for School Age Care in Australia Adobe PDF document External Link provides similar consistency for all outside school hours care services and other services (long day care and family day care) providing education and care for school age children.
  5. New national body: The Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) External Link monitors national consistency and assures quality implementation of the NQF.
  6. Each state and territory as a regulatory authority: Regulatory authorities have a quality assessment role under the NQF and responsibility for granting approvals, assessing and rating services and monitoring compliance with the legislation.

The following additional information is also available on this website:

Resources

Frequently asked questions

Useful links - National Quality Framework

^ Top of page

This page was last reviewed on 30 Apr 2012

Copyright | Disclaimer | Privacy | Access keys | Other languagesOther languages

© The State of Queensland (Department of Education, Training and Employment) 2010.

Queensland Government