Information Publication Scheme

Background

Section 264 of the Education and Care Services National Law Act 2010 (National Law) applies the Freedom of Information Act 1982 of the Commonwealth (the FOI Act) in relation to the bodies that undertake the administration of the ‘national education and care services quality framework’. This includes ACECQA.

The Education and Care Services National Regulations (National Regulations) modifies the FOI Act as it applies to the national education and care services quality framework and the bodies that administer it, including ACECQA.

Part 2 of the FOI Act establishes an Information Publication Scheme (IPS) for agencies subject to the Act. The IPS commenced on 1 May 2011 and requires agencies to publish a broad range of information on their website. This includes an agency’s structure, functions, appointments, annual reports and details of the agency's FOI officer.

ACECQA takes a proactive approach to publishing information. Below are headings for each of the categories of information we publish in our IPS entry. Under each heading are links to the information or documents.

Agency plan

ACECQA has an Information Publication Plan as required by s 8(1) of the FOI Act. The Plan describes how ACECQA implements and administers the IPS in respect of its own information holdings.

Who we are

Information published under this heading includes:

About us
Organisational Structure
ACECQA’s Governance
The ACECQA Board
The ACECQA Executive
Statutory appointments (Ratings review panel)
Work with us

What we do

The National Law and National Regulations set out the role, functions and powers of ACECQA and each regulatory authority.

The functions of ACECQA as per Section 225 of the National Law are as follows—

to guide the implementation and administration of the National Quality Framework and to monitor and promote consistency in its implementation and administration
to report to and advise the Ministerial Council on the National Quality Framework
to report to the regulatory authorities and the relevant Commonwealth Department in relation to the following—
- the collection of information under the National Law and Regulations
- the evaluation of the National Quality Framework
to establish consistent, effective and efficient procedures for the operation of the National Quality Framework
to determine the arrangements for national auditing for the purposes of the National Law and Regulations
to keep national information on the assessment, rating and regulation of education and care services
to establish and maintain national registers of approved providers, approved education and care services and to publish those registers
to promote and foster continuous quality improvement by approved education and care services
to publish, monitor and review ratings of approved education and care services
to make determinations with respect to the highest level of rating for approved education and care services
in conjunction with the regulatory authorities, to educate and inform education and care services and the community about the National Quality Framework
to publish guides and resources—
- to support parents and the community in understanding quality in relation to education and care services
- to support the education and care services sector in understanding the National Quality Framework
to publish information about the implementation and administration of the National Quality Framework and its effect on developmental and educational outcomes for children
to publish practice notes and guidelines for the application of the National Law and Regulations
to provide support and training to authorised officers and staff of regulatory authorities
to determine the qualifications required to be held by educators, including the assessment of equivalent qualifications
any other function given to ACECQA by the National Law and Regulations.

In carrying out our functions, ACECQA has regard to the objectives and guiding principles of the National Quality Framework.

ACECQA also carries out the following skills assessments:

Our reports

ACECQA publishes research and reports relevant to the NQF on ACECQA’s website. ACECQA’s Annual Reports are also made available on ACECQA's website after being tabled in the Parliament of a participating jurisdiction determined by the Ministerial Council.

ACECQA’s consultative arrangements

ACECQA consults widely with children’s education and care stakeholders to inform its work in guiding the implementation and administration of the NQF. This includes:

conducting formal consultative processes to help shape the design and implementation of a number of ACECQA’s functions, such as our qualifications forums,
convening meetings with service providers and peak sector organisations, state and territory regulatory authorities
consulting the general public on the 2019 NQF Review
consulting the general public on the Review of NQF Staffing and Qualifications Regulation s.

Freedom of Information, routinely requested information and disclosure log

ACECQA publishes on its Freedom of Information Disclosure page information about how to make a FOI request and the address, telephone number and email address for a contact officer who can be contacted about access to ACECQA's information and documents. In addition, information that has been released in response to a request for access to information will be made available in ACECQA’s FOI disclosure log.

Operational information

ACECQA is committed to publishing 'operational information' as required by section 8(2)(j) of the FOI Act. This is information held by ACECQA to assist it in performing or exercising its functions and powers in making decisions or recommendations affecting members of the public.

The following operational information can be found on our website:

Statutory appointments relating to ACECQA

ACECQA publishes a list of current statutory appointments made under the National Law.

Other information

Our priorities

Under s 8(4) of the FOI Act, ACECQA publishes information about the strategic priorities of the Authority. ACECQA’s Strategic Plan is informed by the Letter of Expectation from the Education Council.

Our finances

Under s 8(4) of the FOI Act, ACECQA publishes finance-related information.

Information on ACECQA’s audited financial statements can be found in Part 3 of our annual report
Our current enterprise agreement

Our submissions

Under s 8(4) of the FOI Act, ACECQA publishes information about our submissions to national reviews, parliamentary committees and other inquiries on the research and reports page.

Our lists

ACECQA publishes national registers of approved education and care services and providers.

Our policies

Under s 8(4) of the FOI Act, ACECQA publishes a selection of our policies below:

Our operational activity data

Under s 8(4) of the FOI Act, ACECQA publishes information about our operational functions including the number of Excellent rating applications received and awarded, and how many second tier review, NQF qualification assessment and skilled migration assessment applications we have received. View the most recent ACECQA operational activity data including applications by month, location and outcome.