Fixing NSW Start Strong's representative week requires access to real data

For 2023, the NSW Department of Education had chosen to use a particular week in February 2023 as its "representative week" to calculate the Start Strong (core) funding for 2023.

ACA NSW has raised members' concerns with this decision with the NSW Department of Education, that the use of a week in February tends not to be a true reflection of the enrolments for any calendar year.

It is ACA NSW's understanding that the NSW Department of Education continues not to have appropriate government access to the Federal Government's data to calculate what would be a more reflective level of enrolments and attendances.

ACA NSW members will recall that ACA NSW had raised this data access issue with the then Federal Coalition Government in early 2019. Not being able to appropriately access enrolment and attendance data (that is automatically received every Friday by the Federal Department of Education) means the inability to make good decisions.

Naturally, use of a poor "representative week" puts more financial pressure on early childhood education and care services and may produce poor and unfair outcomes for such services and the preschool-aged children in their care.

To address this issue, ACA NSW has written to the Federal Minister for Early Childhood Learning (the Hon Dr Anne Aly MP) and the Federal Minister for Education (the Hon Jason Clare MP) requesting their assistance. And following the election of a NSW Labor Government, ACA NSW has also provided a courtesy copy to the new NSW Minister for Education and Early Childhood Learning (the Hon Prue Car MP).

Given this also has repurcussions to virtually all preschool children and all ECEC services, ACA NSW will also communicate this issue with all NSW-based Federal Members of Parliament.

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

PUBLISHED: 1 APRIL 2023