One in five Territory childcare centres failing to meet national standards could be shut under
One in five Territory childcare centres not ‘up to scratch’ could be shut down under new laws passed by federal parliament. SEE THE FULL LIST.
The one in five Territory childcare centres failing to meeting national quality standards could shut down under new laws passed by federal parliament on Thursday.
These laws allow the Commonwealth to withhold the Childcare Centre Subsidy (CCS) from centres who fail to repeatedly meet National Quality Standards (NQS).
The CCS is the main source of funding for childcare centres across the country, with Federal Education Minister Jason Clare stating the Commonwealth provides $16bn in funding to the sector annually, covering nearly 70 per cent of the costs of an average centre.
“The intention here is not for centres to close but for centres to raise their standards,” Mr Clare told reporters on Thursday.
“But it’s not an idle threat — If centres don’t act, then they will close.
“If centres aren’t up to scratch, if they’re not meeting the sort of safety standards that we expect as a nation, then we should have the power to cut that funding off.”
Under this legislation, the NT regulator Quality Education and Care NT (QECNT), is still responsible for assessing and rating centres against the NQS.
Centres are assessed and rated as: excellent, exceeding the NQS, meeting the NQS, working towards the NQS or significant improvement required.
Of concern,, the latest data from the national regulator reveals 22 per cent of NT centres do not meet the NQS — the highest proportion of centres in the nation.
It is important to note a centre “working towards the NQS” is still considered safe and may only require improvement in one of the seven NQS areas.
Janet Williams-Smith from Early Childhood Australia NT (ECANT) said it was “unlikely” all these Territory centres would close.
“It is unlikely that all of these centres would face funding cuts and shut down,” Ms Williams-Smith said.
“Some services fail to meet the NQS on very minor breaches or technicalities that need to be attended to.
“It would be important to look at the detail and type of breach, the history of the services quality assessment and rating and most certainly any patterns of breaches around staffing, child safety, environments, and supervision.”
Ms Williams-Smith said ECANT supported the bill, but more could be done to improve children’s safety in childcare settings.
“This Bill goes part of the way to strengthen child safety by shutting down and driving out bad actors,” she said.
“There is still more to do though.
“Having a national register of EC educators, a national approach to working with children checks and every jurisdiction having in place a Reportable Conduct Scheme.
“This last one is particularly pertinent to the NT that does not currently have this scheme in place.”
NT Education Minister Jo Hersey said her government would work with the Commonwealth to implement the new legislation.
“The CLP Government is committed to ensuring the delivery of high-quality care and will work closely with services requiring additional support to meet the National Quality Standard,” she said.
“I welcome the opportunity to work with our federal counterparts on the implementation of this legislation and the review of any additional child safety measures.”
