Page 4450 - Week 12 - Thursday, 24 October 2019
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(5) Are childcare centre policies or contracts subject to oversight or regulation; if so, which aspects and by whom.
(6) Are childcare centre policies required to be available to customers and/or to the public; if not, why not.
(7) Has the ACT Government changed their policy as of 2017, in relation to not naming childcare providers found to be in breach of regulations, to align with the Commonwealth Government policy that publicly names childcare providers that have had their funding cancelled or suspended; if not, (a) why not and (b) how are parents to make informed decisions without this information.
(8) What is the rectification process when a childcare provider is found to be in breach and what happens to a provider repeatedly found to be in breach.
(9) For providers that operate both in the ACT and interstate, does the ACT Government keep track of breaches interstate; If not, why not; if so, (a) what is the impact of such breaches and (b) are parents able to access this information in any way.
(10) What happens to the interest accumulated for bonds when bonds that are kept in a trust to generate interest are returned upon termination.
Ms Berry: The answer to the member’s question is as follows:
(1) In February 2016, the ACT Government conducted an internal analysis of cost, access and quality issues related to non-government education and care services in the ACT. The Education Directorate’s report Early Childhood Education and Care: non-government centre based services in the ACT available on its website at www.education.act.gov.au/early-childhood/early-childhood-reports.
(2) The ACT Early Childhood Strategy will outline measures the ACT Government will explore to address the costs of early childhood education and care in the ACT.
(3) The government is undertaking modelling to inform implementation of quality early childhood education for three year old children in the ACT.
(4) The ACT Early Childhood Strategy will include a focus on developing a valued and professional early childhood educator workforce in the ACT.
(5) Early childhood education and care services are regulated under the Education and Care Services National Law (ACT) Act 2011 (National Law) and the Education and Care Services National Regulations. The National Law sets a national standard for children’s education and care across Australia and provides for a range of operational requirements.
The National Law is focused on the health, safety and wellbeing of children, their developmental outcomes and the quality of service provision. State and territory Regulatory Authorities monitor compliance with the National Law. When complaints are received by a Regulatory Authority they are assessed for non-compliance under the National Law.
Complaints about fees or contracts between consumers and providers are outside of the scope of the National Law.
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