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Early Childhood Education and Care: Aggregate NMDS 2014

Identifying and definitional attributes

Metadata item type:Help on this termData Set Specification
METEOR identifier:Help on this term555377
Registration status:Help on this term
  • Early Childhood, Superseded 01/06/2015
DSS type:Help on this termNational Minimum Data Set (NMDS)
Scope:Help on this term

This data set has been developed to support the collection of data under the National Information Agreement on Early Childhood Education and Care. Responsibility for early childhood learning and care is shared between the Australian Government and the state and territory governments, and involves a wide range of service providers including government, local government, community, schools and the private sector.

The Agreement provides a framework for cooperation between the Commonwealth, state and territory jurisdictions and information agencies to develop the early childhood education and care (ECEC) information base required for the Council of Australian Government (COAG) early childhood reform agenda.

Data and information in scope of the Agreement include:

  • Activity under the National Partnership Agreement on Early Childhood Education (NP ECE) and the National Partnership Agreement on Universal Access to Early Childhood Education (NP UAECE)
  • ECEC information required to support the information needs of other National Agreements and National Partnerships, including the National Partnership Agreement on Indigenous Early Childhood Development and the National Indigenous Reform Agreement
  • Outcomes in relation to the COAG Participation and Productivity Agenda
  • Other national reporting purposes, including but not limited to, the Report on Government Services, Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantage, Report to COAG Reform Council, and Headline Indicators on Children’s Health, Development and Wellbeing
  • Monitoring, research and evaluation related to children, families and early childhood development services under the Early Childhood Development Strategy (ECDS).

Service provider organisations for the purposes of this collection are agencies directly providing services to children at a specific location. This includes organisations providing early childhood education programs, and other early childhood and direct care services.

Organisations may provide multiple services, however for the purpose of reporting against the NP ECE and NP UAECE, only early childhood education programs are included.

The scope of the data set is therefore all service providers delivering an early childhood education program to children enrolled aged 3 to 6 (inclusive) during the reference period, noting that coverage of 3 year olds varies across jurisdictions.

Within this scope, an early childhood education program is a structured, play-based learning program, delivered by a qualified teacher aimed at children in the year or two before they commence full-time schooling, irrespective of the type of institution that provides it or whether it is government funded or privately provided. Programs may be delivered in a variety of service settings including separate preschools or kindergartens, long day care centres, in association with a school etc.

The terms most commonly used to describe early childhood education programs which are subject to the NP UAECE in the states and territories are:

  • Kindergarten – Queensland, Western Australia, Tasmania
  • Kindergarten or Preschool – Victoria, South Australia
  • Preschool – New South Wales, Northern Territory, Australian Capital Territory.

An early childhood education program may or may not be delivered in such a way that meets the Universal Access goal. The requirements for Universal Access are listed below.

The NP UAECE is a commitment to joint Commonwealth, State and Territory action to maintain universal access to quality early childhood education programs.

Universal access means that every child, in the year before they commence full-time schooling, has access to:

  • quality early childhood education program(s)
  • delivered for at least 600 hours per year
  • in a form that meets the needs of children, parents and community
  • and at a cost that does not present a barrier to participation.

To apply the requirements of the NP UAECE to the data set, a 'quality' early childhood education program is a program which is delivered in the year before full-time schooling by a qualified early childhood teacher, in accordance with the Early Years Learning Framework and the National Quality Standard.

Monitoring information is to be maintained for the previous NP ECE where possible. However, specific data elements, data definitions and terminologies in the data set conform to those used in the NP UAECE.

The aggregate level collection supports information to be collected at the teacher and service provider organisation level.

The information is to be collected within the reference period in August to enable comparison with schools' data collected in August each year.

Collection and usage attributes

Statistical unit:Help on this term

Service provider organisation

Person (employed)

Implementation start date:Help on this term01/07/2014

Source and reference attributes

Submitting organisation:Help on this term

Early Childhood Data Sub Group (ECDSG)

Steward:Help on this termEarly Childhood Data Sub Group (ECDSG)
Origin:Help on this term

National Partnership Agreement on Early Childhood Education

National Partnership Agreement on Universal Access to Early Childhood Education

Reference documents:Help on this termNational Information Agreement for Early Childhood Education and Care, 2009-2013

Relational attributes

Related metadata references:Help on this term
Supersedes Early Childhood Education and Care: Aggregate NMDS 2013
  • Early Childhood, Superseded 28/05/2014
Has been superseded by Early Childhood Education and Care: Aggregate NMDS 2015
  • Early Childhood, Standard 01/06/2015
See also Early Childhood Education and Care: Unit Record Level NMDS 2014
  • Early Childhood, Superseded 01/06/2015
Implementation in Data Set Specifications:Help on this term
All attributes +

Early Childhood Education and Care DSS 2014Early Childhood, Superseded 01/06/2015

DSS specific attributes +

Implementation start date: 01/07/2014


Metadata items in this Data Set SpecificationHelp on this term

Show more detail
Seq No.Help on this termMetadata itemHelp on this termObligationHelp on this termMax occursHelp on this term
-Early childhood education and care worker clusterMandatory1
-Address—Australian postcode, Australian postcode code (Postcode datafile) {NNNN}

DSS specific information:

Should be reported for the physical location at which the early childhood education program is delivered. If the early childhood education program is received in a home-based setting (i.e. via distance education programs such as school of the air or e-Kindy), then the location of the service provider delivering the program should be used as the basis for the address, rather than the home-based setting.
Mandatory1
-Address—statistical area, level 1 (SA1) code (ASGS 2011) N(11)

DSS specific information:

Should be reported for the physical location at which the early childhood education program is delivered. If the early childhood education program is received in a home-based setting (i.e. via distance education programs such as school of the air or e-Kindy), then the location of the service provider delivering the program should be used as the basis for the address, rather than the home-based setting.

Mandatory1
-Address—suburb/town/locality name, text X[X(45)]

DSS specific information:

Should be reported for the physical location at which the early childhood education program is delivered. If the early childhood education program is received in a home-based setting (i.e. via distance education programs such as school of the air or e-Kindy), then the location of the service provider delivering the program should be used as the basis for the address, rather than the home-based setting.

Mandatory1
-Organisation—organisation name, text X[X(199)]

DSS specific information:

This item should be used to report the operating or trading name of the early childhood education and care service which delivers an early childhood education program to children.

The registered business name should not be used if it is different from the name of the early childhood education and care service that it manages or owns.

A campus name or satellite school name (e.g. where the service provider organisation operates early childhood education programs at multiple geographical locations using the same service provider name) may also be used.

Each service provider must have a discrete service provider organisation name to allow identification of each individual location for provision of an early childhood education program.

The organisation name type data item is not required.

Mandatory1
-Person—age, total years N[NN]

DSS specific information:

Age should be collected for children referenced to their age at 1 July in the year of data collection.
Mandatory1
-Person—estimated resident population of Australia, total people N[N(7)]Mandatory1
-Person—Indigenous status, code N

DSS specific information:

The parent or guardian should be asked to declare the child’s Indigenous status on their behalf.
Mandatory1
-Service provider organisation (address)—address line, text X[X(179)]

DSS specific information:

Should be reported for the physical location at which the early childhood education program is delivered only.
Mandatory1
-Service provider organisation—Australian state/territory identifier, code N

DSS specific information:

Should be reported for the physical location at which the early childhood education program is delivered.
Mandatory1
-Service provider organisation—early childhood education program attendance hours, total hours N[NNNN]Mandatory1
-Service provider organisation—early childhood education program delivered by a qualified teacher indicator, yes/no code NMandatory1
-Service provider organisation—early childhood education program weekly tuition fee schedule amount, total Australian currency N[NNNNN].NNMandatory1
-Service provider organisation—government funding type, early childhood education and care, code NMandatory1
-Service provider organisation—management type, early childhood education and care, code N[N]

DSS specific information:

The legal or social entity responsible for managing the delivery of early childhood education and care services is the entity responsible for the day to day running of early childhood education and care services, including tasks such as the design and the delivery of the early childhood education program, the hiring and firing of staff, the care of the children, etc.

Mandatory1
-Service provider organisation—maximum early childhood education program hours available per week, total hours N[N]Mandatory1
-Service provider organisation—number of children attending an early childhood education program, total N[NNNN]Mandatory1
-Service provider organisation—number of early childhood education program enrolments, total number N[NNNN]Mandatory1
-Service provider organisation—number of early childhood education program hours enrolled, total hours N[NNNN]Mandatory1
-Service provider organisation—number of early childhood education program service operation weeks (calendar year), total NNMandatory1
-Service provider organisation—number of Indigenous children attending an early childhood education program, total number N[NNNN]Mandatory1
-Service provider organisation—number of Indigenous children enrolled in an early childhood education program, total N[NNNN]Mandatory1
-Service provider organisation—organisation identifier, X(15)

DSS specific information:

Should be reported for the location at which the early childhood education program is delivered. A discrete identifier should be supplied for each early childhood education program operated as a separate campus or ‘satellite’ of a parent service provider organisation.
Mandatory1
-Service provider organisation—service activity type, early childhood education and care, code N[N]Mandatory1
-Service provider organisation—service delivery setting, early childhood education and care, code NMandatory1
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