Another successful Inner Circles event with the NSW Department of Education

Another lively ACA NSW Inner Circles event was held recently on Monday evening with the NSW Department of Education. (Event programme brochure also available.)

On 27 February 2023, the NSW Regulatory Authority presented and engaged with ACA NSW members and non-members on many issues, including:

1. the implementation of Assessments & Ratings in NSW (with changes to notification periods to 1-5 days);
2. the level of regulatory and operational burden on services, educators and teachers;
3. the level of breaches/non-compliances especially when compared against other states/territories;
4. the experiences with and conduct of NSW Authorised Officers;
5. seeking alternatives to address labour shortages; and
6. the disconnect between Quality Ratings (especially QA1) and governments' expectations of preschool outcomes.

The NSW Department of Education's presentation slides covered the following:

• the composition and quality ratings of NSW's early childhood education and care sector;
• the growth of services across all states/territories and settings;
• their published enforcement and decision actions;
• their 2022-2023 areas of focus;
• their performance targets for child safety, quality improvement, timely & effective regulation and stakeholder engagement;
• the changes following the NQF Review in terms of workforce relief, qualification requirements and improved safety for children;
• the transportation requirements of services who provide/arrange regular transport;
• better guidance on safe sleep and rest requirements; and
• the Cultural Safety Framework consultation.

The NSW Department of Education also wanted to share their Acknowledgement of Country video by the Summer Hill Children's Centre.

ACA NSW is also very grateful to our partners and suppliers (Guild Insurance, Guild Early Learning, KKTC, 1Place, ARMOURit, KGF Catering, Kangarootime & PK Chartered Accountants) who supported the event with their generous lucky prizes! And congratulations to all the lucky winners!

And finally, the following feedback received thus far will be considered for implementation for future ACA NSW Inner Circles events:

• a need for more solutions for future recruitment of educators and teachers;
• more detailed information about the future of Assessments & Ratings; and
• questions (not statements) to be submitted in advance and moderated.

For any further information/clarification about that event, please contact the ACA NSW team via 1300 556 330 or nsw@childcarealliance.org.au. 

PUBLISHED: 1 MARCH 2023