Established in 1993, the National Childcare Accreditation Council (NCAC) is a non-profit organisation based in Sydney, Australia, which is funded by and accountable to the Australian Government. It was responsible for administering Child Care Quality Assurance (CCQA) for the following children's services in Australia:
Contents
- Child Care Quality Assurance in Australia
- Family Day Care Quality Assurance FDCQA
- Outside School Hours Care Quality Assurance OSHCQA
- Quality Improvement and Accreditation System QIAS
- References
In December 2009, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) announced a National Partnership Agreement to a New Quality Agenda which will replace the regulatory processes administered by state and territory governments and the Child Care Quality Assurance systems administered by NCAC from January 2012.
Child Care Quality Assurance in Australia
Child care quality assurance in Australia was first raised as a political issue in the lead up to the 1990 Federal election. The Crawford Committee was established in 1990 and recommended the then Minister for Aged, Family and Health Services establish a national body to represent all interest groups in children’s services to oversee the accreditation process.
This recommendation resulted in the formation of the Interim National Accreditation Council (INAC) in 1991. INAC presented a report to the Minister recommending accreditation be linked with receipt of Childcare Assistance.
NCAC was established in 1993 to develop an accreditation and quality assurance system for Australian child care services. Her Excellency Ms Quentin Bryce, AC Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia was the founding Chair and CEO of NCAC between 1993 and 1996. Ms Denise Taylor was Chief Executive Officer of NCAC from 1997-2011.
Family day care schemes, outside school hours care services and long day care centres had to satisfactorily participate in the relevant CCQA system administered by NCAC in order to offer the Child Care Benefit as a fee reduction to parents and obtain funding support.
The CCQA systems provided a framework for reviewing, measuring and improving the quality of work done by approved child care providers. Services participating in CCQA progressed through a 5 step process including Registration, Self-study and Continuing Improvement, Validation, Moderation and Accreditation Decision.
While there are voluntary accreditation systems for children’s services in other countries, the Australian CCQA system was linked to child care funding through legislation and to be funded and supported by government.
Family Day Care Quality Assurance (FDCQA)
The FDCQA system, administered in participating family day care schemes, outlined 30 principles of quality care which were incorporated into six quality areas:
- Interactions
- Physical environment
- Children’s experiences, learning and development
- Health, hygiene, nutrition, safety and wellbeing
- Carers and coordination unit staff
- Management and administration.
Outside School Hours Care Quality Assurance (OSHCQA)
The OSHCQA system, administered in participating outside school hours care services, outlined 30 principles of quality care which are incorporated into eight quality areas:
- Respect for children
- Staff interactions and relationships with children
- Partnerships with families and community links
- Programming and evaluation
- Play and development
- Health, nutrition and wellbeing
- Protective care and safety
- Managing to support quality.
Quality Improvement and Accreditation System (QIAS)
The QIAS, administered in participating long day care centres, outlined 33 principles of quality care which are incorporated into seven quality areas:
- Staff relationships with children and peers
- Partnerships with families
- Programming and evaluation
- Children’s experiences and learning
- Protective care and safety
- Health, nutrition and wellbeing
- Managing to support quality.