Child care
ALTERNATIVE LABELS
Childcare
NARROWER TERMS
Report
Senate Select Committee on Work and Care: final report
This final report from the Senate Select Committee on Work and Care draws on 11 days of hearings across Australia, as well as 125 published submissions. The issue of predictable pay and working hours has emerged as an important and significant issue in the inquiry...
Evaluation
Evaluation of the 2018 changes to the Australian child care system
In 2018, the Australian government introduced a new funding model for the support of child care provision in Australia. Overall, this evaluation finds that the package did not address the wider set of key policy questions about the role of early childhood education and care.
Report
NQF annual performance report 2022
The Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA), in collaboration with all governments, has released this sixth annual performance report on the National Quality Framework (NQF). The report shows that 88% of education and care services are rated as Meeting National Quality Standard (NQS)...
Report
In Home Care evaluation report
The revised In Home Care (IHC) program was introduced on 2 July 2018, as part of the Child Care Package. This is the final evaluation report for the IHC program, drawing on data collected about IHC up to February 2020.
Report
National Quality Framework (NQF) snapshot Q3 2022
ACECQA's 39th NQF Snapshot report summarises quality rating results and other information about education and care services operating under the National Quality Framework (NQF). The latest Snapshot finds 88% of services are rated Meeting or Exceeding the National Quality Standard (NQS).
Report
Senate Select Committee on Work and Care: interim report
A growing number of Australian workers have responsibility for the care of someone else—perhaps children, an ageing parent or someone with a disability or chronic illness—while they are working. This inquiry is examining the ways in which the combination of work and care responsibilities is...
Evaluation
Evaluation of the Inclusion Support Program
The Inclusion Support Program (ISP) was introduced in July 2016 as an element of the Child Care Package. Overall, this evaluation found that the program was supportive of inclusion of children with additional needs and is supported by stakeholders, although there are a number of...
Strategy
Shaping our future: implementation and evaluation plan
This implementation and evaluation plan outlines the steps that will be taken to progress actions related to the six focus areas identified in 'Shaping our future', along with how progress will be monitored and reviewed, including in response to emerging priorities.
Report
Child Care Subsidy activity test: undermining child development and parental participation
This report argues that universal access to early childhood education and care will deliver significant improvements in childhood development, parental participation and productivity, and future productivity of the children that will benefit from greater access.
Report
2021 Early childhood education and care national workforce census
The 2021 Early childhood education and care national workforce census was commissioned by the Australian Department of Education, as part of a range of Australian government initiatives designed to improve the quality of information used in developing and measuring early childhood policy and programs.
Report
National Quality Framework (NQF) snapshot Q2 2022
This report is the ACECQA's 38th NQF Snapshot report, summarising quality rating results for education and care services operating under the National Quality Framework (NQF).
Discussion paper
Securing children’s future: Nordic-style investment needed in early years learning
Planned new funds from the national and two major state governments for early years learning have huge potential. This paper argues that Nordic-style measures to reduce privatised childcare – and now boost wages, job security and training support for children’s educators and carers – are...
Briefing paper
Starting now: the first steps to delivering the best early childhood system for Australia
This briefing paper sets out a roadmap to a universal, accessible and affordable early childhood system in Australia.
Discussion paper
Occasional Paper 8: The first decade of the NQF
This paper provides a high-level overview of the National Quality Framework (NQF), highlights a number of changes that have occurred over the last 10 years, and summarises a range of projects and strategies in place to ensure the NQF remains fit for purpose.
Report
Click here for care: how the platform economy can impede high-quality childcare
Most of the media and policy attention on gig economy platforms has focused on companies such as Uber and Deliveroo, while those largely represented by women, such as cleaning and caring platforms, get little airtime. Despite the picture that a reference to the gig economy...
Policy report
Research note: modelling of the 2022 Coalition and Labor child care policies
This paper provides results of modelling of the distributional impacts of Labor's proposed child care policy and the Coalition's recently legislated child care policy. Both policies are compared to the previous child care subsidy policy.
Briefing paper
Solving the childcare challenge
Britain has the highest childcare costs in the developed world – a typical two-earner family in the UK spends around 30% of their household income on nurseries and childminders. This briefing paper puts forward a threefold solution that would deliver for families and the economy...
Report
Supporting all children to thrive
In 2021, more than 63,000 children were assessed as developmentally vulnerable when they started school, according to the Australian Early Development Census (AEDC). This analysis highlights the circumstances of disadvantage experienced by many of these children, how inequity of access to high quality Early Education...
Report
Educating for care: meeting skills shortages in an expanding ECEC industry
This paper argues that the provision of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) services should be treated as a strategic industry of national importance – not just a ‘market’, and not just a ‘cost’ item on government budgets.
Report
National Quality Framework (NQF) snapshot Q1 2022
This report is the ACECQA's 37th NQF Snapshot report, summarising quality rating results for education and care services operating under the National Quality Framework (NQF).
Report
The economic benefits of high-quality universal early child education
This report reviews several economic aspects of Australia’s failure to both allocate sufficient economic resources to early child education and care services, and to ensure that those resources are used to provide the best-quality services possible.
Blog post
Explainer: everything you need to know about the major parties’ new childcare policies
In this blog post, Owain Emslie takes a look at the child care policies of the Liberal/National Coalition and the ALP in the lead-up to the 2022 federal election.
Report
Deserts and oases: how accessible is childcare in Australia?
The evidence is overwhelming on the impact of good quality early learning in fuelling children’s development and giving them a great start in life. This research reveals where in Australia the demand for space in early childhood education and care (ECEC) outpaces local capacity to...
Evaluation
Child Care Package evaluation: final report
This evaluation draws heavily upon the administrative data on the children's and families' use of child care, along with surveys implemented by the Department of Education, Skills and Employment, and by the evaluation team, as well as extensive qualitative data from consultations and location-based case...
Report
National Quality Framework (NQF) snapshot Q4 2021
The Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) has released its 36th NQF Snapshot report, summarising quality rating results for education and care services operating under the National Quality Framework (NQF).