STATE AND TERRITORY COLLECTION OF THE NATIONAL EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AND CARE COLLECTION
The ABS continues to work closely with all states and territories, Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) and the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) on collection development activities. Current development activities focus on improving service provider coverage and aligning service provider data standards. These data development activities will greatly benefit future cycles of the National ECEC Collection.
The ABS and jurisdictions are continuing to work together to improve collection coverage by expanding the development of collections for future cycles. Outlined below are details of the coverage for each State and Territory.
Coverage in New South Wales
Within New South Wales (NSW), full collection coverage was achieved for all preschools delivered within government schools through the Government School Census.
Full coverage was achieved for all government funded preschools through the Children’s Services Annual Data Collection. Within these preschools, only children who did not receive or were not eligible for the Child Care Benefit (CCB) or the Child Care Rebate (CCR) were included in the collection.
All services approved for the purposes of CCB were required to provide data through the CCMS. However, LDCs delivering preschool programs were not mandated to complete the preschool program component of the CCMS, which may have resulted in under-coverage due to levels of service non-response. Service providers that were not approved for CCB purposes were not included in the CCMS, so this may have resulted in under-coverage within NSW
There were a small number of non-government preschools not reported in the 2012 collection because they were not funded by NSW Department of Education and Communities and not within the CCMS. Some of these providers are school-based preschools, associated with non-government schools
See Chapter 5: Overview of Early Childhood Education and Care in Australia, for further information on the sectors that deliver preschool programs in NSW.
Coverage in Victoria
Within Victoria (Vic.), full collection coverage was achieved for all preschool programs delivered in services that were funded by Vic. Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (DEECD), through the Confirmed Kindergarten Funding Data Collection (conducted in April) and the August Data Collection. The majority of service providers delivering preschool programs in Vic. were covered within these collections, irrespective of their management type and service delivery setting.
A small number of LDC centres operating a preschool program were not funded or licensed by Vic. DEECD. All services approved for the purposes of CCB were required to provide data through the CCMS. However, LDCs delivering preschool programs were not mandated to complete the preschool program component of the CCMS, which may have resulted in under-coverage due to levels of service non-response. LDC data for Vic. are sourced from both the Vic. Collection and CCMS. Each collection may address the under-coverage in the other. However, this may still have resulted in a level of under-coverage in the LDC sector.
See Chapter 5: Overview of Early Childhood Education and Care in Australia, for further information on the sectors that deliver preschool programs in Vic.
Coverage in Queensland
Within Queensland (Qld.), full collection coverage was achieved for all approved service providers in receipt of Qld. government funding through the Early Childhood Education and Care Services Census (ECECSC). This included coverage of LDCs. Participation in the Early Childhood Education and Care Services Census (ECECSC) was voluntary for unfunded providers and therefore complete coverage of this sector was not achieved.
See Chapter 5: Overview of Early Childhood Education and Care in Australia, for further information on the sectors that deliver preschool programs in Qld.
Coverage in South Australia
Within South Australia (SA), full collection coverage was achieved for all government managed and government funded preschools, Independent schools, and Catholic schools with funded preschool programs through the Annual Census of Children’s Services (ACCS). Participation in the ACCS was compulsory for all government managed and government funded preschool programs. Participation was voluntary for unfunded independent and Catholic school managed preschool providers and for unfunded community managed providers. As a result, full coverage in these sectors was not achieved. There may be a small number of LDC providers operating a preschool program that were unfunded and not registered for CCB, and this represents a possible under-coverage within South Australia.
All services approved for the purposes of CCB were required to provide data through the CCMS. However, LDCs delivering preschool programs were not mandated to complete the preschool program component of the CCMS, which may have resulted in under-coverage due to levels of service non-response. Service providers that were not approved for CCB purposes were not included in the CCMS, so this may have resulted in under-coverage within SA.
See Chapter 5: Overview of Early Childhood Education and Care in Australia, for further information on the sectors that deliver preschool programs in SA.
Coverage in Western Australia
Within Western Australia (WA), full collection coverage was achieved for all preschool programs delivered in registered and funded schools (both government and non-government) and community-based preschools through the WA August Student Census.
All services approved for the purposes of CCB were required to provide data through the CCMS. However, LDCs delivering preschool programs were not mandated to complete the preschool program component of the CCMS, which may have resulted in under-coverage due to levels of service non-response. Service providers that were not approved for CCB purposes were not included in the CCMS, so this may have resulted in under-coverage within WA.
See Chapter 5: Overview of Early Childhood Education and Care in Australia, for further information on the sectors that deliver preschool programs in WA.
Coverage in Tasmania
Within Tasmania (Tas.), full collection coverage was achieved for all preschool programs delivered in government and non-government schools through the Tas. 2012 Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) Collection.
All services approved for the purposes of CCB were required to provide data through the CCMS. However, LDCs delivering preschool programs were not mandated to complete the preschool program component of the CCMS, which may have resulted in under-coverage due to levels of service non-response. Service providers that were not approved for CCB purposes were not included in the CCMS, so this may have resulted in under-coverage within Tas.
See Chapter 5: Overview of Early Childhood Education and Care in Australia, for further information on the sectors that deliver preschool programs in Tas.
Coverage in the Northern Territory
Within the Northern Territory (NT), full collection coverage was achieved for all government and registered non-government preschools through the NT Age/Grade Census.
All services approved for the purposes of CCB were required to provide data through the CCMS. However, LDCs delivering preschool programs were not mandated to complete the preschool program component of the CCMS, which may have resulted in under-coverage due to non-response. Service providers that were not approved for CCB purposes were not included in the CCMS, so this may have resulted in under-coverage within NT.
See Chapter 5: Overview of Early Childhood Education and Care in Australia, for further information on the sectors that deliver preschool programs in NT.
Coverage in the Australian Capital Territory
Within the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), full collection coverage was achieved for all ACT government managed and Catholic schools delivering a preschool program through the ACT Public School Census and the ACT Catholic Preschool Collection. Independent schools, and community (not for-profit) and private for-profit managed preschools, were not covered in the collection and therefore full coverage in these sectors was not achieved.
All services approved for the purposes of CCB were required to provide data through the CCMS. However, LDCs delivering preschool programs were not mandated to complete the preschool program component of the CCMS, which may have resulted in under-coverage due to levels of service non-response. Service providers that were not approved for CCB purposes were not included in the CCMS, so this may have resulted in under-coverage within ACT.
See Chapter 5: Overview of Early Childhood Education and Care in Australia, for further information on the sectors that deliver preschool programs in ACT.
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