The revised National Quality Standard: Key concepts

The revised National Quality Standard (NQS) will come into effect on 1 February 2018. For the first time, the NQS introduces key concepts for each element and standard to help support the children’s education and care sector unpack the central ideas. This month on We Hear You, we look at these key concepts and the important role they play in continuous quality improvement.

A key feature of the changes agreed to by education Ministers earlier this year is the revised National Quality Standard (NQS) which will commence for all states and territories on 1 February 2018. This builds on other changes to the National Law and Regulations commencing 1 October 2017 in all states and territories, except Western Australia which will come into effect by 1 October 2018. For the first time, the revised NQS introduces key concepts for each standard and element.

These have been developed to support the sector unpack key ideas related to the NQS, as well as offering greater clarity that will strengthen quality outcomes for children. The concepts also provide a bridge between the current and revised NQS. The revised NQS retains the seven quality areas, with a small change to the title of Quality Area 7 to Governance and Leadership. The streamlining of the NQS has minimised conceptual overlap and duplication, resulting in a reduction from 18 to 15 standards and 58 to 40 elements while retaining the current features that promote quality.

Key concepts

The concepts will support services to collaborate to identify strengths and opportunities for quality improvement, including engaging families and others in the community (such as local schools) in the process. They also provide clarity for both services and regulatory authorities about what is being measured or assessed in each of the standards and elements. Educators, educational leaders and service leaders can use the concepts to assist in the self-assessment process, as well as in critical reflection and professional conversations. We have been working with all state and territory regulatory authorities to develop resources to support education and care services to understand the changes and what they need to do to ensure they continue to meet legislative requirements. These resources include:

• an information sheet detailing the transitional arrangements to the new legislation and the revised NQS, with specific information for services undergoing their assessment and rating visit early in 2018
• the revised National Quality Standard information sheet explaining the key changes to the NQS and quality ratings
• a webcast that provides an extended overview of the NQF changes. (Amended: This webcast is no longer available)

Familiarising yourself with the revised NQS

The best place to start is by familiarising yourself with the legislative changes and the revised standards and elements in preparation for your annual self-assessment and review to update your Quality Improvement Plan (QIP). To ensure your service is meeting all regulatory requirements, think about the need to reflect these changes in the following:

• current service QIP (think about undertaking a self-assessment against the updated legislative standards and the revised NQS to inform the required update of the QIP)
• policies and procedures (for example, there is a new requirement for a sleep and rest policy)
• communication materials for families.

If you are looking for an engaging and interactive way to learn more about the revised NQS, we have developed The Quest for Quality game – a capacity building tool that integrates an element of fun into professional discussions and critical reflection. You can download the game from the ACECQA website or order a copy to be delivered. For more information, visit Changes to the National Quality Framework on the ACECQA website.