More than 230 Victorian childcare centres failing to meet national quality standards

Does your kid’s childcare centre meet national quality standards? More than 230 facilities across the state fail to do so. Search our comprehensive database to see how every centre rates.

Families situated in low socio-economic areas and rural towns are missing out on quality childcare while those in the inner city have access to a variety of centres that exceed national standards.

A Herald Sun analysis of Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) National Quality Standards (NQS) has found 231 centres in Victoria are providing below standard care.

At the same time, 2994 centres meet the NQS and 1159 have a NQS rating of “exceeding” or “excellent”.

While there are some childcare centres in regional Victoria offering exceptional care, at least 50 outside Melbourne are “working towards” the NQS.

This includes Swan Hill Early Learning in Swan Hill, Goldfields Children’s Centre in Maryborough, Northern Bay College in Corio and City Kindergarten in Warrnambool.

Ouyen, Cooma and in parts of the Gippsland region, there appears to be childcare deserts with only a small number of centres available, none of which have a rating above “meeting NQS”.

Families in Melbourne have the greatest choice of centres with an “exceeding NQS” rating.

But amid the excellent care provided, there are some centres in affluent suburbs including Camp Australia – St Kevins College OSHC in Toorak and The Learning Sanctuary in Glen Iris that have “working towards NQS” ratings.

According to the ACECQA website, the NQS takes into account “seven quality areas that are important to outcomes for children” including education programs offered, child health and safety, staffing arrangements and physical environment.

Community Child Care Association executive director Julie Price said NQS ratings were an important tool for parents to understand the quality of care each centre delivered.

“The National Quality System is a core component of ensuring children in Australia receive education and care in their early years that meet their needs and help them develop to their full potential,” she said.

“It can provide a pointer for parents about the quality of different services, however it is really only a useful tool if families have a choice.”

Ms Price said workforce shortages in regional Victoria was a key factor behind why inner-city centres were outperforming rural ones.

“In some regional areas it is challenging to attract and retain well-qualified, experienced teachers and educators,” she said.

“It is usually only well-qualified, experienced leaders that can lead a centre to reach an ‘exceeding’ rating.”

Kids Academy Kensington constantly reviews its practices to ensure high quality childcare. Picture: Wayne Taylor

It comes as new research found children who attended centres that were either “working towards” the NQS or “required significant improvement” had higher developmental vulnerability risk than their peers at “exceeding” and “excellent” rated centres.

The research was carried out by the University of Queensland’s Brain Institute and the Australian Education Research Organisation.

One centre “exceeding NQS” is Affinity Education Group’s Kids Academy Kensington.

Centre manager Doreen Macafee chalked up its success to a culture of continuous critical reflection and improvement.

“We constantly review our practices and children’s learning and development outcomes against the NQS to ensure continued compliance and excellence, and to ensure our program responds to our children’s needs, family feedback and ideas,” she said.

“Our robust holistic framework combined with Affinity’s Lifelong Learning Curriculum supports age-appropriate teaching and project-based inquiry that nurtures cognitive, emotional, social, and physical development.”

Ms Macafee also said the positive and energetic team culture boosts staff morale, leading to better performance and lower turnover.