Occasional Paper 8 - The first decade of the NQF - The first 10 years of Australia’s National Quality Framework for children’s education and care

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Rhys

Occasional Paper 8 reviews the first decade of Australia’s National Quality Framework (NQF), covering how the system was created and how it changed regulation of children’s education and care from 2012 onward. It explains the shift from fragmented state and territory requirements to a shared national quality standard, outlines key NQF objectives around safety, wellbeing, educational outcomes, continuity improvement, and public information, and summarises major timeline milestones. It also highlights assessment and rating practices and the sector’s sector-wide trends and future directions.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages17

Reading Time43 min

AccessFree to download

NQF timeline

How and why the NQF came about

The NQF explained

Education and care sector profile (as at 1 July 2022)

Education and care sector trends

What has the NQF meant for children?

Continuous improvement

Drivers of quality improvement

Quality assessment and rating

Safety, health and wellbeing

Educational and developmental outcomes

Public awareness and knowledge of the NQF

Workforce

Future directions

Joined-Up Approvals

National Quality Agenda IT System improvements

2019 NQF Review

Approved Learning Frameworks Update

National Children’s Education and Care Workforce Strategy (2022–2031)

Ongoing research and evaluation

OCCASIONAL PAPER 8 The first decade of the NQF The first 10 years of Australia’s National Quality Framework for children’s education and care NQF timeline | Mid-2009 | Belonging, Being & Becoming – The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia published | | --- | --- | | December 2009 | National Partnership Agreement on the National Quality Agenda for Early Childhood Education and Care comes into effect | | October 2010 | Passing of the Education and Care Services National Law Act 2010 | | Mid-2011 | My Time, Our Place – Framework for School Age Care in Australia published | | | | | Late 2011 | Passing of the Education and Care Services National Regulations 2011 | 1 Educational program and practice 2 Children’s health and safety 3 Physical environment 4 Staffing arrangements 5 Relationships with children 6 Collabfamilieosratanivdecpoartnmmeurshnitiipess with 7 Governance and leadership | 1 January 2012
| National Quality Framework comes into effect, includingthe establishment of the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority | | --- | --- | | Mid-2012 | State and territory regulatory authorities commence the quality assessment and rating of services | | Early 2013 | National registers available online, including information about services’ quality ratings | | January 2014 | New staffing requirements increase number of early childhood teachers in services | | | | | April 2015 | Starting Blocks launched | | January 2016 | New educator-to-child ratio requirements improve national consistency | | October 2017 | Changes to the National Law and Regulations, as a result of the 2014 NQF Review | | February 2018 | Revised National Quality Standard introduced | | 2019 | 2019 NQF Review commences | | --- | --- | | January 2020 | New staffing requirements increase number of early childhood teachers and suitably qualified persons in services | | April 2020 | Quality assessment and rating temporarily suspended due to the impact of COVID-19 | | June 2021 | National Quality Framework Approved Learning Frameworks Update project commences | | October 2021 | Shaping Our Future – A tenyear strategy to ensure a sustainable, high-quality children’s education and care workforce (2022–2031) published | | --- | --- | Contents NQF timeline 2 How and why the NQF came about 5 The NQF explained 6 Education and care sector profile, as at 1 July 2022 8 Education and care sector trends 11 What has the NQF meant for children? 12 Continuous improvement 14 Drivers of quality improvement 17 Excellent rated services 17 Quality assessment and rating 18 The NQF: a single system that supports diversity 19 What has changed in the last 10 years? 20 Safety, health and wellbeing 20 Educational and developmental outcomes 22 Public awareness and knowledge of the NQF 24 Workforce 26 Future directions 28 Joined-Up Approvals 28 National Quality Agenda IT System improvements 28 2019 NQF Review 28 Approved Learning Frameworks Update 30 National Children’s Education and Care Workforce Strategy (2022–2031) 30 Ongoing research and evaluation 31 2 Occasional Paper 8: The first decade of the NQF Occasional Paper 8: The first decade of the NQF 3 The NQF came into effect on 1 January 2012 It introduced a new National Quality Standard to improve children’s education and care across all regulated service types How and why theNQF came about The National Quality Framework (NQF) was established in 2012 to create a more efficient and cohesive approach to regulating early childhood education and care, and outside school hours care in Australia. Before the NQF There was no unified national system for regulation and compliance before the NQF was introduced. Requirements such as the safety of a service’s physical environment were often duplicated in the state/territory licencing and Australian Government quality assurance processes. Expectations were also inconsis

FAQs

What problem did the NQF address before it took effect in 2012?

Before the NQF, regulation and compliance lacked a unified national system, with duplicated requirements across states and territories and inconsistent expectations between jurisdictions. This contributed to regulatory burden and variation in quality.

What objectives does the NQF set for children’s education and care services?

The NQF objectives focus on children’s safety, health and wellbeing, improving educational and developmental outcomes, promoting continuous improvement, supporting national integration and shared responsibility, improving public knowledge, and reducing regulatory and administrative burden.

How does the NQF change quality assessment and public access to information?

State and territory regulatory authorities assess and rate services against a national quality standard. The framework also supports online registers and information access so families and carers can make informed service choices.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Rhys