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NCAC Media Contacts
NCAC can be contacted from 8.30am - 5.00pm (NSW Time) Monday to Friday. NCAC does not provide an out of hours media contact.
NCAC's Media Spokesperson is Denise Taylor, NCAC Chief Executive Officer.
All initial media enquiries should be made to Elizabeth Robinson, General Manager Communications and Marketing. Ms Robinson can be contacted on 02 8260 1900 during office hours or e-mailed at qualitycare@ncac.gov.au. All requests for interviews with Ms Taylor should be made well in advance by contacting Ms Robinson.
Media Releases
Frequently Asked Questions
How many child care services are "Accredited"?
- The vast majority of child care services in Australia are Accredited
- The National Childcare Accreditation Council (NCAC) provides statistics on services registered with NCAC to participate in Child Care Quality Assurance in the Reports and Statistics section of this website
- These statistics are updated each month
- To be Accredited a service must achieve a rating of Satisfactory or higher in all Quality Areas on their composite Quality Profile
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What is the difference between Quality Assurance, Licensing and National Standards?
Licensing for Child Care Services
- Each State and Territory Government is responsible for legislation under which child care services are licensed
- Licensing provides a legal 'floor' below which no service is permitted to operate
- There is licensing legislation for long day care centres throughout Australia
- Not all States and Territories have licensing legislation for family day care and outside school hours care
- Licensing regulations typically include structural quality factors such as:
- space
- range of equipment
- number and ages of children
- number of staff
- staff qualifications
- The National Childcare Accreditation Council (NCAC) website provides contact details for State and Territory Licensing Departments
National Standards for Child Care Services
- These standards were developed in the 1990s
- They were intended to provide a basis for a consistent, national approach to operating standards for child care services
- National standards typically include structural quality factors such as:
- space
- range of equipment
- number and ages of children
- number of staff
- staff qualifications
- More information is available from the Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs' website (www.facsia.gov.au)
Child Care Quality Assurance Systems
- Child Care Quality Assurance systems are administered by NCAC
- They build on licensing standards to look at factors that determine quality
- The emphasis is on the practices of staff and carers and the actual outcomes for children.
- The systems shift the focus from meeting minimum standards to continuously striving towards higher levels of care
- Child Care Quality Assurance typically includes quality factors such as:
- interactions between the staff, carers and children
- partnerships with families
- programming and evaluation
- children's experiences and learning
- health, nutrition, safety, wellbeing and protective care
- managing to support quality
- Child Care Quality Assurance standards are described in the Quality Practices Guide for each system
- The standards are specific to each service type - family day care, long day care and outside school hours care
- Where potential licensing breaches are brought to the attention of NCAC we will advise the relevant licensing authority
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Does NCAC provide lists of "Not Accredited" child care services?
- The National Childcare Accreditation Council (NCAC) does not provide lists of services - by area or accreditation status - to individuals or organisations
- The names, contact details and Accreditation history of child care services throughout Australia are available on the Search for Child Care facility on the NCAC website.
- This search facility is designed to assist families looking for care to search for child care services by postcode, suburb or service name
- This information is not intended for any other purpose, including publication by third parties
- NCAC does not encourage the publication of lists of child care services using data from the NCAC website
- Note: the information about services on the website will always be 5 to 10 days out of date to allow time for the service to receive their Accreditation Decision before the information is made publicly available
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What does it mean if a child care service is " Not Accredited"?
- The National Childcare Accreditation Council (NCAC) website provides definitions of each Accreditation status
- Where a service is Not Accredited it means that the service:
- does not meet the standard required for Accreditation;
- has a Quality Profile Certificate summarising achievements in Child Care Quality Assurance which it must display prominently;
- has been provided with guidance to improve practice;
- must submit another Self-study Report to NCAC within 3 to 6 months;
- should be working towards improving the quality of care provided and may be close to achieving Accreditation;
- may be contacted for information about recent improvements to the quality of care provided.
- Not Accredited services:
- are given specific guidance on how to improve quality and time to implement change
- are encouraged to contact Professional Support Coordinators for assistance in meeting the Child Care Quality Assurance standards
- are encouraged to advise families about their Accreditation Decision and plans for improving quality may be close to achieving Accreditation
- The majority of services improve practice following a period of being Not Accredited and achieve Accredited status the next time they progress through the system
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How soon can a "Not Accredited" service get the opportunity to regain its "Accredited" status?
- After receiving a Not Accredited decision a service has 3 to 6 months to improve practice and submit another Self-study Report
- Once the Self-study Report is received a Validation Visit will then be scheduled
- The service will receive another Accreditation Decision based on the results of:
- the service's Self-study Report
- the Validation Surveys from families, staff, service Director and children (where school aged children are cared for by the service);
- the Validation Report; and
- Moderation
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Should parents be concerned if they learn their child care service is listed as "Not Accredited"?
- Parents should be vigilant in checking that the service attended by their child is providing quality care for children every day
- This should occur whether the service is Accredited or Not Accredited
- Parents can ask the service to view the service's Quality Profile Certificate which provides a rating of the service's achievement against each of the Child Care Quality Assurance Quality Areas
- Parents can ask the service how they are maintaining and improving on their current achievements
- If families have concerns about the quality of child care provided at their child's service they can telephone the Nation Childcare Accreditation Council (NCAC) on 1300 136 554 and speak to a Child Care Adviser or visit NCAC's website (www.ncac.gov.au) for more information about NCAC's complaints handling mechanism
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How does the funding of Child Care Benefit relate to a service's Satisfactory Participation and Progress in Child Care Quality Assurance?
- In order to remain eligible for continued Child Care Benefit approval, child care services must comply with the Child Care Benefit (Eligibility of Child Care Services for Approval and Continued Approval) Determination 2000 made under the A New Tax System (Family Assistance) Administration Act 1999.
- Continued Child Care Benefit approval for child care services involves the service's:
- compliance with the requirements of the Child Care Quality Assurance five step process and
- demonstrated commitment to maintaining a satisfactory standard of quality child care, including continuing improvement to the standard of care
- The National Childcare Accreditation Council (NCAC) may report services that either fail to comply with, or make satisfactory progress through Child Care Quality Assurance to the Australian Government department responsible for administering Child Care Benefit
- The Department of Families, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs (FaCSIA) is responsible for applying sanctions to child care services that do not comply with Child Care Quality Assurance
- Please contact FaCSIA (www.facsia.gov.au) for more information about sanctions
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How does Child Care Quality Assurance work?
- The Child Care Quality Assurance systems are about building the quality of care provided for children in child care services through a professional development approach
- Services self-evaluate on their practices against the standards outlined in the Quality Practices Guide and work towards meeting first the Satisfactory standards and then the Good and High Quality standards
- Services submit a Self-study Report to the National Childcare Accreditation Council (NCAC) which outlines their current achievements in relation to each Quality Area and what plans they have to improve quality in each area
- New services have 18 months before the submission of the Self-study Report
- Accredited services are required to submit a new Self-study Report every 2.5 years
- On receipt of the Self-study Report, NCAC appoints a Validator to visit the service. Validators are peers who regularly work in child care services
- Validators are trained by NCAC to undertake their role and released by their service to complete Validation Visits
- The purpose of the Validation Visit is to validate the quality of care provided by the service against the standards as set out in the Quality Practices Guide
- The process of Moderation helps to ensure that all services participating in Child Care Quality Assurance are treated consistently on a national basis
- Moderators assess the quality of the service's practice, guided by information in the service's Self-study Report, the Validation Surveys, and the Validation Report
- Moderators write a Continuing Improvement Guide to the service which focuses on quality improvement
- NCAC makes the Accreditation Decision
- To be Accredited a service must achieve a rating of Satisfactory or higher in all Quality Areas on their composite Quality Profile
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Last updated on 26 May 2006
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