Understanding Quality and Safety in Early Childhood Services: What Families Should Know

Understanding Quality and Safety in Early Childhood Services: What Families Should Know

Choosing an early childhood education and care service is one of the most important decisions families make. Beyond location and convenience, parents naturally want to know: Is my child safe? Will they receive high-quality care and education?

Across Australia, families can take confidence in the fact that all early childhood education and care services operate under the National Quality Framework (NQF). The NQF is a national system designed to regulate, assess, and continuously improve the quality of early learning services, ensuring children’s wellbeing, development, and safety are always the priority.

What Is the National Quality Framework (NQF)?

The National Quality Framework (NQF) applies to most early childhood education and care services across Australia, including long day care, family day care, preschool and kindergarten services, and outside school hours care.

Its purpose is simple but powerful:

• To ensure consistent, high standards across all services

• To support children’s learning, health, and safety

• To give families confidence and transparency when choosing a service

The NQF is made up of several key, stable components that work together to protect children and support quality education.

National Law and National Regulations: The Legal Foundations

At the heart of the NQF are the National Law and National Regulations, which set out the legal requirements every approved service must meet.

These laws and regulations cover essential areas, including:

• Staffing arrangements
  Requirements for educator-to-child ratios, qualifications, and supervision to ensure children are always safely supported.

• Health and safety
  Policies and procedures for illness management, medication administration, hygiene, nutrition, and emergency preparedness.

• Educational programs
  Expectations that services provide meaningful, age-appropriate learning experiences that support children’s development.

• Physical environment
  Standards for safe, clean, and engaging indoor and outdoor spaces that support learning and play.

• Operational procedures
  Governance, record-keeping, risk management, and compliance processes that ensure services operate responsibly and transparently.

These legal requirements are not optional—services must meet them to operate and are monitored by state and territory regulatory authorities.

National Quality Standard (NQS): What High-Quality Looks and Feels Like

In addition to legal compliance, the NQF includes the National Quality Standard (NQS), which defines what high-quality education and care should look and feel like in practice.

The NQS is made up of seven Quality Areas, covering every aspect of a child’s experience:

1. Educational Program and Practice

2. Children’s Health and Safety

3. Physical Environment

4. Staffing Arrangements

5. Relationships with Children

6. Collaborative Partnerships with Families and Communities

7. Governance and Leadership

Services are regularly assessed and rated against these Quality Areas, and results are publicly available. This allows families to see how a service is performing and where it excels.

Consistency Across All Service Types

One of the strengths of the NQF is that it applies regardless of service type. Whether a child attends a large long day care centre, a small family day care setting, or a preschool program, the same national standards apply.

This consistency means families can expect:

• Clear safety and supervision standards

• Qualified and supported educators

• A focus on children’s learning, wellbeing, and development

• Ongoing quality improvement, not just minimum compliance

What This Means for Families

For families, the NQF provides reassurance and transparency. It means you can:

• Trust that services meet nationally recognised safety and quality standards

• Ask informed questions about staffing, programs, and policies

• Access public quality ratings to support your decision-making

• Feel confident that your child’s service is accountable and continuously improving

Most importantly, it means your child is supported in an environment designed to help them feel safe, valued, and confident as a learner.

A Shared Commitment to Children

The National Quality Framework reflects a shared national commitment: that all Australian children deserve high-quality, safe, and enriching early learning experiences, no matter where they live or what service they attend.

When families understand the NQF, they are better equipped to partner with services—working together to support children’s early years, which lay the foundation for lifelong learning and wellbeing.