NQF Annual Performance Report 2024
Our 8th NQF Annual Performance Report is now available online. The report focuses on 5 fundamental aspects of the NQF:
Furthering the objectives of the NQF, in 2024, we saw evidence of continuous quality improvement. The overall proportion of children’s education and care services rated Meeting National Quality Standard (NQS) or above hit 90% at the end of June, up from 62% ten years ago and 79% five years ago. This reflects the consistent efforts and commitment of providers, teachers, educators and service staff to improve their programs and practice for the benefit of children and families.
Quality improvements have been particularly noteworthy for both outside school hours care and family day care services, with 88% of the former rated Meeting NQS or above and 72% of the latter. 4 years ago, the respective proportions were 75% and 50%.
Importantly, recent research conducted by the Australian Education Research Organisation and the University of Queensland provided the first empirical evidence linking quality ratings with child development. Children who attended a service rated Exceeding NQS were found to have consistently lower rates of developmental vulnerability than children in services rated Working Towards NQS. This confirms the value of investing in quality early childhood education and care, as well as the value of the national system for assessing and rating service quality. It also highlights the need to focus on the persistent and widening gap between the quality of services in the most and least socio-economically advantaged areas.
Given that quality outcomes for children depend upon a highly skilled, well supported and professionally recognised workforce, it is pleasing to see the progress being made in implementing Shaping Our Future, the national children’s education and care workforce strategy (2022-2031), as well as the findings from our latest survey of approved providers. The survey confirms that overall support for the NQF remains very strong, with almost 97% of respondents indicating their support.
Read the full report and interactive content.