This document was added or updated on 27/06/2018.

APPENDIX 5 WORKER DATA JURISDICTIONAL DATA QUALITY STATEMENTS

Worker data for 2016 became available in mid 2018, following the provision of data from the National Early Childhood Education and Care Workforce Census for 2016 by the Australian Government. The Microdata: Preschool Education, Australia, 2016 (Catalogue number 4240.0.55.003) was updated in June 2018 to include worker data for the reference period for all jurisdictions, excluding South Australia.

AUSTRALIAN GOVERNMENT

In 2016, the Australian Government was responsible for two data collections in relation to preschool children, the Child Care Management System (CCMS) and the National Early Childhood Education and Care Workforce Census 2016 (the ECEC Workforce Census). The CCMS enabled a data extract to be provided at child unit record level (URL) for the 2016 Collection while the Workforce Census enabled URL worker data on workers delivering preschool/Early Childhood Education and Care programs in Long Day Care (LDC) services to be provided.

Relevance

Scope:
In 2017, the scope of CCMS extract for the National Early Childhood Education and Care Collection (National ECEC Collection) included:

a. all children aged 3 to 6 years from all LDCs in CCMS were considered to be receiving a quality early childhood education program in accordance with the National Quality Framework
b. the primary source of hours data (enrolled and attended) was drawn from the LDC's standard data instead of using the Preschool Module data (with subsequent enhancement from the LDC's standard hour data) as per previous years, therefore no imputation was necessary.

The 2016 Early Childhood Education and Care National Workforce Census extract for the National ECEC Collection included:

a. all workers involved in delivering (i.e. paid contact workers) a preschool/Early Childhood Education and Care program, in accordance with the National Quality Framework, in an Australian Government Approved Long Day Care Service.

Coverage: The ECEC National Workforce Census 2016 provides detailed information on Australia Government approved LDC services including their workforce (including information on field and and levels of qualification and role), service usage, children with additional needs, and preschool programs.

Data collection methods:
Worker: In 2017, the Australian Government Department of Education provided data on workers in preschool in LDCs from the ECEC Workforce Census 2016. Coverage of workers is not complete, however it provides data on workers from 94.9 per cent of LDCs in the sector that operated in the reference week. It should also be noted that the ECEC Workforce Census was conducted from 23 to 29 May 2016, which is a different time period to the child and service data reference week of 29 July to 4 August 2016.

Accuracy

In 2016, worker data is available from the ECEC Workforce Census 2016. Data on workers from responding organisations in scope were provided to the ABS.


NEW SOUTH WALES

A] GOVERNMENT SCHOOL CENSUS

Relevance

Scope: The scope for data provided on workers included all paid primary contact teachers and School Learning Support Officers delivering preschool programs at government schools in NSW. Only primary contact teachers were considered in-scope for the National ECEC Collection.

Data collection methods: The 2016 Government Schools Census collected data using a URL data collection methodology for the following statistical entities:

§ Worker - data at the worker record level.

Accuracy

All NSW Department of Education (DoE) government school-based preschools were required to participate in the Government School Census by completing an online census form. There were three sections to the preschool component of the Government School Census, the third of these relates directly to the collection of worker data:

Teacher data (e.g. qualifications and length of employment).

For more information about child and service data, please refer to the Jurisdictional Data Quality Statements for 4240.0 - Preschool Education, Australia, 2016.

Data Element	Details of Deviation
Hours worked in early childhood education program delivery (Worker)	Hours worked in early childhood education program delivery was not collected directly for preschool workers in government operated preschools. The hours were derived using the teachers' full-time equivalence where available

B] EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AND CARE (ECEC) PRESCHOOL CENSUS

Relevance

Scope: The scope for data provided on workers included all paid workers employed in service providers that were regulated and funded by NSW DoE.

Data collection methods: The 2016 ECEC Preschool Census collected data using a URL data collection methodology for the following statistical entity:

§ Worker - data at the worker level.

Accuracy

There are five main sections to the census component of Early Childhood Contract Management System (ECCMS), the fifth of these relates directly to the collection of worker data:

Individual staff details, e.g. qualification field and level, main role, main work activity.

For more information about child and service data, please refer to the Jurisdictional Data Quality Statements for 4240.0 - Preschool Education, Australia, 2016.

Data Element	Details of Deviation
Early childhood education program delivered by a qualified teacher indicator (Service Provider)	Derived. A service was considered to have delivered an early childhood education program by a qualified teacher if there was at least one worker at the service recorded as a qualified early childhood teacher

VICTORIA

Relevance

Scope: The scope for data provided on workers included all paid primary contact teachers and educators employed in the services in scope.

Data collection methods: The 2016 Kindergarten Census collected data using a Unit Record Level (URL) data collection methodology for the following statistical entities:

§ Worker - data at the worker record level.

Accuracy

Data was collected from services via (Department of Education and Training) DET's online Kindergarten Information Management (KIM) system. Services provided data for the 2016 Kindergarten Census through a workflow which included validation and completeness checks.

For more information, please refer to the Jurisdictional Data Quality Statements for 4240.0 - Preschool Education, Australia, 2016.

Data Element

Details of Deviation

Management type (Service provider)

The legal entity status of the funded organisation reported by each service provider (excluding Independent schools) was used as a proxy measure for management type. This may not have produced consistent classifications of management type for all service providers. Independent schools were categorised using the ‘funding status’ flag in the DET funding system and assigned a management type of Code 6: Independent school, regardless of the legal entity status of the funded organisation.

QUEENSLAND

Relevance

Scope: The scope for data collected on workers through the Early Childhood Education and Care Services Census (ECECSC) included all staff, both paid and volunteer engaged in approved or licensed child care services that consented to their information being provided. Only primary contact teachers were considered in-scope for the Collection.

Data collection methods: The 2016 ECECSC collected data for approved programs using a URL data collection methodology for the following statistical entities:

§ Worker - data at the worker record level.

Accuracy

For more information about child and service data, please refer to the Jurisdictional Data Quality Statements for 4240.0 - Preschool Education, Australia, 2016.


SOUTH AUSTRALIA

South Australia did not submit worker data in the 2016 collection. The quality of the worker data collected by South Australia in 2016 was assessed as low and a number of the validation issues identified could not be resolved. South Australia worker data will not be included in the output. Care should be taken when interpreting the estimates as the estimates do not represent a complete national picture of the worker data.

For more information about child and service data, please refer to the Jurisdictional Data Quality Statements for 4240.0 - Preschool Education, Australia, 2016.


WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Relevance

Scope: The scope for data provided on workers included all paid educators (teachers and education assistants) who work for at least one hour per week in the active delivery of preschool programs at all government, Catholic and Independent schools, and community-based preschools operating under provisions of the School Education Act 1999. The worker data did not include teacher-qualified school principals or other school administrative staff who may have contributed to, or quality assured, preschool provision in the school.

Data collection methods: The 2016 WA August School Census collected data using a Unit Record Level (URL) data collection methodology for the following statistical entities:

§ Worker - data at the worker record level.

Accuracy

All educators (teachers and education assistants and Aboriginal and (WA) Islander Education Officers) who work with kindergarten children for more than one hour per week were required to provide details on their field and level of highest qualification relevant to ECEC. If an educator had no qualifications, they were required to indicate whether they were currently working towards an ECEC qualification and also the number of years of experience they had in teaching preschool ( the first year of school, known as ‘kindergarten’ in WA, and offered part-time) or Pre-primary (the first year of full-time school in WA). To be registered as a teacher in WA, teachers are required to produce evidence they are four year trained or equivalent. Equivalency is determined by the Teacher Registration Board of Western Australia.

For more information about child and service data, please refer to the Jurisdictional Data Quality Statements for 4240.0 - Preschool Education, Australia, 2016.


TASMANIA

Relevance

Scope: The scope for data provided on workers included all paid and unpaid contact workers that were employed in Government, Independent and Catholic schools during the reference period and were involved in service provision of a preschool program.

Data collection methods: The Tasmanian 2016 ECEC Data Collection collected data using a Unit Record Level (URL) data collection methodology for the following statistical entities:

§ Worker - data at the worker record level.

Accuracy

Teacher data were collected directly from the Tasmanian ECEC Workforce application. Qualification information for teachers and principals was collected from the Teachers Registration Board of Tasmania. All non-teacher worker qualification data were collected directly from Government, Independent and Catholic schools, as the government data warehouse does not hold non-teacher data centrally.

If a worker holds more than one qualification, the following rules applied:

§ the highest ECE qualification was reported for the worker if applicable;
§ in instances where the worker did not hold an ECE qualification, then the highest teaching related qualification was reported;
§ in instances where the worker did not hold a teacher qualification, the highest non-teaching related qualification was reported.

All teachers in Tasmania must be registered by the Teachers Registration Board of Tasmania. As a result of the registration process, some long-term teachers have teaching certification or relevant 3 year degrees. The registration process requires all long-term teachers to demonstrate, through teaching experience, that they meet the criteria for an equivalent 4 year degree standard. If a long-term teacher meets this criterion, the teachers are deemed to have a 4 year teaching qualification for registration purposes.
Extensive quality assurance occurred for the attendance and teacher qualification data, to ensure that data were consistent with other Tas. DoE data sources.

For more information about child and service data, please refer to the Jurisdictional Data Quality Statements for 4240.0 - Preschool Education, Australia, 2016.


NORTHERN TERRITORY

Relevance

Scope: The scope for data provided on workers included all paid workers employed in government and registered non-government preschools and who were registered with the NT Teacher Registration Board. Workers were included irrespective of whether they delivered a preschool program during the reference period.

Data collection methods: The 2016 Age/Grade Census collected data using a Unit Record Level (URL) data collection methodology for the following statistical entities:

§ Worker - data at the worker record level.

Accuracy

Additional data for staff and preschool (students and staff) were collected through an online survey tool for government schools. All data was processed centrally for inclusion in the census collection.
Teachers were required to provide details on their field of highest qualification relevant to early childhood education and care. NT DoE considered all teachers registered with the NT Teacher Registration Board as four year equivalent qualified teachers.

For more information about child and service data, please refer to the Jurisdictional Data Quality Statements for 4240.0 - Preschool Education, Australia, 2016.


AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY - GOVERNMENT

A] CANBERRA PUBLIC SCHOOL CENSUS

Relevance

Scope: The scope for data provided on workers included all paid primary contact teachers that delivered a preschool program during the reference period at public schools in ACT.

Data collection methods: The 2016 ACT Education Directorate Preschool Collection collected data for ACT public schools using a Unit Record Level (URL) data collection methodology for the following statistical entities:

§ Worker - data at the worker record level.

Accuracy

In 2016, data were obtained from a point in time sweep of data stored in the Education Directorate school administration system (Maze). Data were provided on the teacher who was normally assigned to the class and recorded by the school in Maze. Once extracted from Maze, teacher data were on-provided to the Teacher Quality Institute (TQI) who linked the teacher with the highest level and field of relevant qualification from information within their database.
In addition, a survey of schools was undertaken to confirm the number of preschool classes and identify teachers in the collection period.

For more information about child and service data, please refer to the Jurisdictional Data Quality Statements for 4240.0 - Preschool Education, Australia, 2016.

B] ACT INDEPENDENT PRESCHOOL COLLECTION

Relevance

Scope: The scope for data provided on workers included all paid primary contact teachers that delivered a preschool program and other contact and administrative school staff employed during the reference period at Independent schools in ACT.

Data collection methods: The 2016 ACT independent Preschool Collection collected data using a Unit Record Level (URL) data collection methodology for the following statistical entities:

§ Worker - data at the worker record level.

Accuracy

In 2016, the Directorate carried out validation of 2016 data from each Independent school delivering a preschool program.

For more information about child and service data, please refer to the Jurisdictional Data Quality Statements for 4240.0 - Preschool Education, Australia, 2016.


AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY - CATHOLIC

Relevance

The scope for data provided on workers included all paid primary workers employed during the reference period at Catholic schools in ACT.

Data collection methods: The 2016 ACT Catholic Preschool Collection used a URL data collection methodology for the following statistical entities:

§ Worker - data at the worker record level.

Accuracy

In 2016, data were obtained from a point in time sweep of enrolment and attendance data stored in the ACT Catholic School administration system (known as 'MAZE'). Teacher data were also sourced from the HR Employment Database.

For more information about child and service data, please refer to the Jurisdictional Data Quality Statements for 4240.0 - Preschool Education, Australia, 2016.