In Focus

Regulatory Spotlight

Updates to the Regulations – have you implemented the required changes? 

From 1 December 2023, a number of amendments to Western Australia’s Education and Care Services National Regulations 2012 (the National Regulations) commenced operation. These relate to changes aligning with changes made nationally under the 2019 National Quality Framework (NQF) Review that commenced on 1 October 2023.

The WA amendments were published as the Education and Care Services National Amendment Regulations (No. 4) 2023.

The regulation amendments that commenced on and before 1 December 2023 will be consolidated into the National Regulations for ease of reference. For more information, visit Education and Care Regulatory Unit – latest updates and changes to legislation. 

NASA (Next Assessment Support and Advice)

Interactive Webinars 2024

Join staff from the Education and Care Regulatory Unit (ECRU) to hear about assessment and rating processes. Authorised Officers will discuss what they are seeing in the sector and share some insights on how you can prepare your team and service for a successful visit.   

This is a great opportunity for you to ask questions and hear from other education and care professionals about their experiences.  

Webinar Dates:

• 8 February 2024 at 10am – Family Day Care only
• 13 February 2024 at 10am – all service types
• 17 May 2024 at 10am – all service types
• 12 July 2024 at 1pm – Family Day Care only
• 14 August 2024 at 1pm – all service types
• 13 November 2024 at 10am – all service types

To book please follow the link and select your chosen session at Eventbrite NASA Webinar (Next Assessment Support and Advice).

A recorded NASA presentation will be available on the Education and Care Regulatory Unit’s website from mid-January 2024.

SunSmart Education and Care Service Program

Early Childhood Education and Care Services can become SunSmart and create a safe and healthy environment for children and staff. Services are uniquely placed to educate about sun protection behaviour, minimise ultraviolet (UV) radiation exposure and ultimately reduce a child’s lifetime risk of skin cancer.

The SunSmart program assists childcare and early learning services to develop and maintain sun protection policies and put them into action. Joining the SunSmart program demonstrates a commitment to securing the future health and well-being of children and staff.

Visit Generation Sun Smart to join the SunSmart program or scan the QR Code.

Are you ready to implement V2.0 of the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) and/or My Time Our Place (MTOP) from 1 February 2024?

If you are still working towards implementation or would like to access resources to continue to support your team, please visit Approved learning frameworks by Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA).

ACECQA have developed a match the glossary terms game to encourage your team to actively engage with the refreshed approved learning frameworks and the revised terminology used throughout. Using this game can help build an understanding of the terminology within the approved learning frameworks and promote reflective discussions on how these words are evident in your educational programs and practice.

Do children have the right to do nothing

in school aged care?

This new research article explores the concept of leisure in Australian school age care services and provides a fantastic platform for critical reflection on your approach to curriculum decision making in out of school hours care (OSHC).

Do children have a right to do nothing? Exploring the place of passive leisure in Australian school age care looks at the recent refresh of My Time, Our Place (MTOP), and explores the trail of passive leisure. In this context, passive leisure refers to play or recreation experiences where children are the decision makers.  

The publication recognises a greater emphasis on leisure in MTOP V2.0, that is child led and focussed on their own perspectives of leisure experiences. The results of the research demonstrate, through the trial of a range of leisure spaces in services, that children responded positively to passive leisure, citing that they felt more restful.  

Director's Reflections 2023

2023 has presented many challenges to the early childhood education and care sector.  Staffing issues continues to be a dominating factor, and the federal government has tried to alleviate pressures with the introduction of the Early Childhood Workforce Strategy.  However, this will take time and I recognise that our industry is under pressure.  Your continued support to children and families through the provision of education and care services across the state is noticed and appreciated.

Assessment and Rating

During 2023 ECRU focussed on increasing the amount of Assessment and Rating visits in WA to give more contemporary ratings to WA services.

From January 2023 to November 2023, 84% of assessment and rating visits conducted by ECRU received a rating of “meeting the National Quality Standard (NQS)” or above. 20 of those services attained an “exceeding the NQS” rating. This is an excellent result and shows that services and providers are working hard to achieve excellence in their services.

WA has also reduced the timeframe between assessment and rating visits down to 4.4 years and the national average is 3.9 years. The introduction of the reduced notice of visits and the introduction of partial assessments will hopefully see the turnaround times between visits decrease even further, providing families with a more contemporary up-to-date rating across Western Australian services.

WA continues to follow the national average with 80.7% of all services in WA currently rated Meeting or above.

Compliance

During compliance visits in 2023, ECRU have noticed a slight reduction in the number of administrative breaches in WA, however, there is still work to do in the area of compliance and ECRU hope to continue to provide advice and support to the sector in targeting the top 10 non-compliances to bring about increased safety for children.

Sector Engagement

The 2023 Roadshows were held from September to November in 11 locations throughout WA and were very well attended by the sector.  Over 1,500 ECEC professionals registered across the state with presenters from Edith Cowan University, Reconciliation WA and the Ombudsman WA.  There was a lot of valuable information shared, discussed and workshopped.  Thanks to everyone who attended and those who provided feedback about the Roadshows.  We value your feedback and hearing about the issues important to you. We will review this information to see how we can better deliver messages to the sector during 2024.

Publications from ECRU are issued frequently.  I urge you all to encourage your educators, colleagues, and staff to subscribe to ECRU Communications for updates and helpful information throughout the year. To subscribe to our publications, scan the QR code below or sign up on our website.

In closing, I wish those of you who are celebrating a very Merry Christmas, and hope that you get to spend some quality time with your families. I look forward to our continued relationship in 2024.

Natalie Gulberti, Director, on behalf of everyone here at ECRU.

Upcoming Events 

14 January       International Kite Day

24 January       International Day of Education

28 January      National Lego Day