Report on Government Services 2020
PART B, SECTION 3: RELEASED ON 4 FEBRUARY 2020
3 Early childhood education and care
This section reports on the performance of early childhood education and care (ECEC) services, which comprise child care and preschool services.
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- Key Facts
- Indicator Framework
- Indicator Results
- Indigenous Data
In 2019, 1 304 002 (or 31.5 per cent) of children aged 0–12 years, attended Australian Government Child Care Benefit approved child care services, an increase of 1.6 per cent from 2018.
In 2018, 533 889 children were enrolled in a preschool program. Of children aged in the state-specific year before full time schooling, 296 932 children (or 91.0 per cent) were enrolled in a preschool program. Of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children aged in the state-specific year before full time schooling, 86.1 per cent were enrolled in a preschool program.
At 30 June 2019, 79.2 per cent of National Quality Framework approved services with a quality rating were rated as Meeting or Exceeding the National Quality Standard (including Excellent) — up from 77.9 per cent at 30 June 2018.
Total Australian, State and Territory real government recurrent and capital expenditure on early childhood education and care services was $9.8 billion in 2018‑19, compared with $9.4 billion in 2017‑18.
Early childhood education and care services aim to meet the education, care and development needs of children, and meet the needs of families including enabling increased workforce participation, by providing universal access to early childhood education services for eligible children and accessible child care services that:
- are high quality, affordable, flexible and can be implemented across a range of settings
- are delivered in a safe, nurturing and inclusive environment
- target improved access for, and participation by, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, vulnerable and disadvantaged children.
Governments aim for ECEC services to meet these objectives in an equitable and efficient manner.
The performance indicator framework provides information on equity, efficiency and effectiveness, and distinguishes the outputs and outcomes of ECEC services. The performance indicator framework shows which data are complete and comparable in this Report.
An overview of the Early childhood education and care (ECEC) performance indicator results are presented. Information to assist the interpretation of these data can be found in the indicator interpretation boxes in the ECEC section and data tables.
Equity — Access indicators
ECEC participation by special needs group
Children using child care, by special needs group — Proportion of children aged 0–12 years attending Australian Government Child Care Benefit (CCB) approved child care services who are from targeted special needs groups, compared with the representation of these groups in the community (per cent).
| NSW | Vic | Qld | WA | SA | Tas | ACT | NT | Aust | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in child care 2019 | 4.3 | 1.4 | 5.9 | 3.5 | 2.8 | 8.1 | 2.3 | 16.0 | 3.9 |
| Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in the community 2018 | 6.3 | 1.7 | 8.3 | 6.7 | 4.9 | 10.5 | 3.1 | 40.3 | 5.9 |
| Children from low income families 2019 | 22.7 | 23.4 | 25.4 | 20.6 | 22.4 | 23.5 | 8.9 | 15.6 | 22.9 |
| Children from low income families in the community 2017-18 | 14.6 | 12.9 | 18.4 | 15.9 | 18.9 | 20.8 | 13.1 | 11.0 | 15.4 |
| Children with disability in child care 2016 | 4.1 | 3.0 | 2.7 | 2.9 | 3.8 | 4.5 | 2.7 | 2.8 | 3.4 |
| Children with disability in the community 2018 | 6.7 | 7.4 | 7.4 | 7.3 | 6.8 | 10.2 | 12.8 | – | 7.2 |
Preschool program participation, by special needs group — Proportion of children enrolled in a preschool program aged in the Year Before Full time Schooling (YBFS) who are from special needs groups, compared with the representation of children aged 4–5 years in the community (per cent).
| NSW | Vic | Qld | WA | SA | Tas | ACT | NT | Aust | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in a preschool program 2018 | 5.5 | 2.0 | 7.9 | 6.7 | 5.4 | 9.0 | 3.1 | 33.1 | 5.5 |
| Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in the community 2018 | 6.2 | 1.8 | 8.2 | 6.8 | 4.8 | 9.6 | 3.2 | 39.5 | 5.8 |
| Children from regional areas in a preschool program 2018 | 26.6 | 23.1 | 32.1 | 15.5 | 22.6 | 98.3 | 0.2 | 60.5 | 26.6 |
| Children from regional areas in the community 2018 | 23.4 | 21.5 | 32.5 | 15.4 | 22.3 | 98.2 | 0.2 | 55.9 | 25.2 |
| Children from remote areas in a preschool program 2018 | 0.6 | – | 2.8 | 6.9 | 3.8 | 1.7 | .. | 39.6 | 2.3 |
| Children from remote areas in the community 2018 | 0.5 | – | 3.1 | 6.9 | 3.7 | 1.8 | .. | 44.1 | 2.3 |
| Disadvantaged children in a preschool program 2018 | 18.6 | 15.9 | 18.5 | 12.8 | 25.6 | 34.7 | 1.2 | 24.7 | 17.7 |
| Disadvantaged children in the community 2018 | 20.8 | 15.8 | 20.1 | 13.1 | 25.8 | 34.5 | 1.2 | 29.4 | 18.9 |
Effectiveness — Access indicators
ECEC participation
Children using child care — Proportion of children who are attending Australian Government CCS approved child care services (children aged 0–12 years), 2019
| NSW | Vic | Qld | WA | SA | Tas | ACT | NT | Aust | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | 32.8 | 30.1 | 34.9 | 23.9 | 32.5 | 28.8 | 44.2 | 22.9 | 31.5 |
Preschool program participation — Proportion of children who are enrolled in a preschool program in the state-specific year before full time schooling, 2018
| NSW | Vic | Qld | WA | SA | Tas | ACT | NT | Aust | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | 84.4 | 94.2 | 90.1 | 98.8 | 97.0 | 101.1 | 101.0 | 89.7 | 91.0 |
Parent costs for ECEC services
Child care service costs — Median weekly cost for 50 hours of Australian Government CCS approved centre based care (CBC) and family day care (FDC), 2019
| NSW | Vic | Qld | WA | SA | Tas | ACT | NT | Aust | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $ CBC | 513 | 521 | 455 | 500 | 486 | 446 | 570 | 467 | 495 |
| $ FDC | 500 | 500 | 500 | 500 | 450 | 489 | 550 | 490 | 500 |
Child care costs as a proportion of weekly disposable income — Proportion of weekly disposable income that families with $75 000 gross annual income spend on one child for 30 hours CBC and FDC, after child subsidies, 2019
| NSW | Vic | Qld | WA | SA | Tas | ACT | NT | Aust | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % CBC | 4.1 | 4.1 | 3.6 | 4.0 | 3.9 | 3.6 | 4.5 | 3.6 | 4.0 |
| % FDC | 4.1 | 4.1 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 3.7 | 4.0 | 4.5 | 3.9 | 4.1 |
Preschool service costs — Median hourly cost of a preschool program (after subsidies), per child enrolled aged 4 and 5 years, 2018
| NSW | Vic | Qld | WA | SA | Tas | ACT | NT | Aust | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $ | 3.22 | 2.80 | 3.21 | - | - | - | - | - | 2.60 |
Effectiveness — Appropriateness indicators
Non-standard hours of care in child care services
Proportion of Australian Government CCS approved child care services providing non-standard hours of care, 2019
| NSW | Vic | Qld | WA | SA | Tas | ACT | NT | Aust | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | na | na | na | na | na | na | na | na | na |
Demand for ECEC
Proportion of children aged 0–12 years for whom additional formal child care or preschool services were currently required, 2017
| NSW | Vic | Qld | WA | SA | Tas | ACT | NT | Aust | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | 8.1 ± 1.4 | 11.0 ± 1.8 | 7.9 ± 1.8 | 9.6 ± 1.8 | 11.5 ± 2.2 | 8.6 ± 3.5 | 12.7 ± 3.4 | 5.7 ± 2.7 | 9.3 ± 0.7 |
Effectiveness — Quality indicators
Staff quality in ECEC
Proportion of paid primary contact staff employed by CCS approved child care services with a relevant formal qualification (at or above Certificate level III), 2016
| NSW | Vic | Qld | WA | SA | Tas | ACT | NT | Aust | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | 75.0 | 84.0 | 72.9 | 74.2 | 76.2 | 81.0 | 61.7 | 61.1 | 76.1 |
National Quality Framework (NQF) quality and compliance
Achievement of National Quality Standard (NQS) — Proportion of NQF approved services with a quality rating, whose overall NQS rating is ‘Meeting NQS’, ‘Exceeding NQS’ or ‘Excellent’, 30 June 2019
| NSW | Vic | Qld | WA | SA | Tas | ACT | NT | Aust | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | 74.6 | 84.3 | 84.7 | 67.9 | 81.8 | 76.5 | 75.3 | 71.4 | 79.2 |
Confirmed breaches — Number of confirmed breaches by NQF approved services per 100 NQF approved services, 2018-19
| NSW | Vic | Qld | WA | SA | Tas | ACT | NT | Aust | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rate | 141.7 | 177.1 | 104.1 | 108.2 | 28.2 | 28.1 | 38.5 | 383.7 | 132.4 |
Serious incidents
Serious incidents — Number of serious incidents that have occurred at NQF approved services, per 100 NQF approved services, 2018-19
| NSW | Vic | Qld | WA | SA | Tas | ACT | NT | Aust | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rate | 104.8 | 85.3 | 106.9 | 116.6 | 105.9 | 90.9 | 161.5 | 76.0 | 101.7 |
Efficiency — Inputs per output unit indicators
Government recurrent expenditure per child
Recurrent expenditure on ECEC services per child in ECEC, 2018-19
| NSW | Vic | Qld | WA | SA | Tas | ACT | NT | Aust | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $ | 6 582 | 6 841 | 6 555 | 6 901 | 6 209 | 5 978 | 6 979 | 9 572 | 6 681 |
Australian Government recurrent expenditure per child aged 0–12 years attending CCS approved child care, 2018-19
| NSW | Vic | Qld | WA | SA | Tas | ACT | NT | Aust | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $ | 6 153 | 6 354 | 6 086 | 5 498 | 4 761 | 4 838 | 6 174 | 5 953 | 6 027 |
Outcome indicators
Family work-related needs for child care
Proportion of people aged 15 years or over not in the labour force due to caring for children whose main reason is child care service related, 2019 (per cent)
| NSW | Vic | Qld | WA | SA | Tas | ACT | NT | Aust | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | 31.2 ± 7.4 | 45.3 ± 6.4 | 32.8 ± 10.4 | 44.8 ± 11.9 | 41.0 ± 13.5 | 31.6* ± 18.0 | np | np | 38.0 ± 2.4 |
Proportion of children with ECEC experience who are developmentally vulnerable on one or more domains of the Australian Early Development Census, 2018
| NSW | Vic | Qld | WA | SA | Tas | ACT | NT | Aust | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | 19.9 | 19.9 | 25.9 | 19.4 | 23.9 | 21.5 | 24.6 | 35.8 | 21.7 |
Notes
These data and caveats for these data are available in section 3 and relevant data tables.
Some percentages reported in these tables include 95 per cent confidence intervals (for example, 80 per cent ± 2.7 per cent).
* Indicates the estimate or proportion has a relative standard error between 25 per cent and 50 per cent and should therefore be used with caution.
na Not available. .. Not applicable. – Nil or rounded to zero. np Not published.
Performance indicator data for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in this section are available in the data tables listed below. Contextual data and further supporting information can be found in the section.
| Table number | Table title |
|---|---|
| Table 3A.12 | Proportion of children attending Australian Government CCS approved child care services who are from special needs groups, compared with their representation in the community (per cent) |
| Table 3A.13 | Proportion of children enrolled in a preschool program aged 3–5 years who are from special needs groups, compared with their representation in the community |
| Table 3A.14 | Proportion of children enrolled in a preschool program aged in the YBFS who are from special needs groups, compared with their representation of children aged 4–5 years in the community |
| Table 3A.21 | Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children enrolled in a preschool program aged in the state-specific YBFS, by remoteness |
| Table 3A.22 | Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children enrolled in a preschool program aged in the state-specific YBFS, by weekly hours |