Australian Bureau of Statistics
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MAXIMUM PRESCHOOL PROGRAM HOURS AVAILABLE


Technical name: Child - maximum preschool program hours available total hours N[N]
METeOR identifier: 436113
METeOR link: http://meteor.aihw.gov.au/content/index.phtml/itemId/436113
METeOR definition: The maximum number of hours of preschool program available to the child at this service, in total hours.

Scope
Inclusions: The maximum number of hours of the preschool program that was made available to the child, for all children enrolled in a preschool program.
Exclusions:

• Hours available in non-preschool programs offered by the service provider.

• Children not enrolled in a preschool program.

• Identifying and recording the maximum hours available per week for the chid to attend the preschool program enables calculation of the proportion of children enrolled in preschool programs that are available at least 15 hours per week.

• The data element Maximum preschool program hours available may be less than or equal to the opening hours of the service.

• Maximum preschool program hours available may be greater than or equal to the data element Preschool program hours enrolled per week.

• The maximum preschool program hours available to the child are the maximum hours for which the child could enrol in the reference period at that service.

• The operational definition differs from the nominal definition because maximum hours available to each child may not be recorded by service providers.

ns - Not stated/inadequately described

	Edit specifications	Edit resolution
1.	If field is blank.	Provide a valid number of hours available, otherwise amend to code ‘ns’.
2.	If character length is greater than 2.	Provide a valid number of hours available.

• Count the maximum hours available that the child is able to attend the preschool program at the service.

• Where this data element is not able to be reported accurately at an individual child level, for each preschool program, count the total hours enrolled for the child with the highest enrolment hours during the reference period, and record this total for all children enrolled in that preschool program.

• Non-instructional times such as recess, tea breaks and lunch breaks should be included if the child was under the supervision of the service provider organisation.

• Where the service provider offers other integrated child care services, the hours associated with these services should be excluded from this data element.

• Jurisdictions which adopt a two week reference period are required to derive their data to a representative reference week.