Strengthened Assessment and Rating Process

From 1 July 2026, NSW early childhood education and care services will undergo a strengthened Assessment and Rating process, with year‑round monitoring, continuous improvement, and service readiness requirements becoming mandatory. Authorised officers will place greater emphasis on ongoing engagement with quality improvement, and services must be assessment‑ready at all times.

Key Details of the Strengthened A&R Process

Ongoing monitoring: Authorised officers will focus on how services embed continuous improvement daily, not just before scheduled visits.

Assessment‑ready at all times: Services must maintain compliance and quality daily, not just prepare for scheduled visits.
Regular documentation checks: Authorised officers may request updated Quality Improvement Plans (QIPs) or self‑assessment records at any time.
Active improvement cycles: Services must show evidence that reflection, planning, and improvement are ongoing, not reactive.
Integration with self‑assessment: Internal reviews must feed directly into continuous improvement and readiness.
Paramountcy principle: Monitoring ensures children’s safety, wellbeing, and learning remain central to regulatory decisions.

Quality Improvement Plans (QIPs): Must remain current, reflective of practice, and demonstrate active improvement cycles.

Always current: QIPs must be updated regularly to reflect actual practice, not just prepared before assessments.
Evidence of improvement: Plans should show active cycles of reflection, planning, and implementation.
Accessible at all times: Authorised officers may request QIPs at any point, so they must be ready for review.
Linked to self‑assessment: QIPs must demonstrate how internal reviews feed into continuous improvement.
Child‑centred focus: Improvements must clearly prioritise children’s safety, wellbeing, and learning.
Integration with feedback: Updated guidance streamlines how services respond to draft A&R reports, ensuring QIPs align with regulatory expectations.

Self‑assessment: Documentation should accurately reflect how the service is operating and improving over time.

Embedded practice: Self‑assessment must be part of everyday operations, not a one‑off exercise before assessment visits.
Linked to QIP: Services must show how self‑assessment feeds directly into the Quality Improvement Plan (QIP), evidencing active improvement cycles.
Evidence of reflection: Documentation should demonstrate how educators and leaders reflect on practice, identify strengths, and plan for improvement.
Accessible at all times: Authorised officers may request self‑assessment records at any point, so they must be current and available.
Child‑centred focus: Reviews must clearly show how improvements prioritise children’s safety, wellbeing, and learning.
Alignment with guidance: Updated departmental guidance provides clearer expectations for how self‑assessment should be documented and used.

Service Readiness

Assessment‑ready at all times: Services must maintain compliance and quality continuously. Being “assessment‑ready” means services must maintain compliance and quality at all times, not just in preparation for scheduled visits.

Continuous compliance: Services must demonstrate that policies, procedures, and practices are consistently applied every day.
Current documentation: Quality Improvement Plans (QIPs), self‑assessments, and evidence of practice must be up‑to‑date and accessible at any time.
Staff awareness: Educators should understand the paramountcy principle and how their daily decisions reflect compliance and quality standards.
Child‑centred focus: Services must show that children’s safety, wellbeing, and learning are prioritised in every aspect of practice.
Responsive systems: Services should have mechanisms to quickly address issues identified by authorised officers during monitoring.
Evidence of improvement: Records must demonstrate ongoing reflection, planning, and implementation of changes.

Paramountcy principle: is explicitly reinforced as the foundation of regulatory decision‑making. This principle ensures that children’s safety, wellbeing, and learning are placed at the centre of every compliance and quality judgement.

Child‑centred focus: All assessment outcomes must demonstrate how services prioritise children’s rights, safety, and developmental needs.
Regulatory decisions: Authorised officers will weigh compliance and quality evidence against the impact on children’s wellbeing and learning.
Continuous improvement: Services must show that improvement cycles are designed to enhance children’s experiences, not just meet administrative requirements.
Service readiness: Being assessment‑ready means demonstrating that children’s needs are consistently met, every day.
Integration with QIPs: Quality Improvement Plans must explicitly show how planned changes benefit children’s safety, wellbeing, and learning outcomes.
Self‑assessment alignment: Internal reviews must highlight how practice improvements are child‑centred and responsive to children’s needs.

Regulatory Assurance

Requests for documentation: Officers may request self‑assessment information or QIPs at any time.
Five‑day pre‑visit call: This existing practice will continue, with officers using the most recent QIP to guide discussions.

Updated Guidance

Feedback on draft reports: New rules streamline the process, limiting unnecessary evidence submissions and focusing on specific, relevant responses.
Clarity and efficiency: Guidance aims to improve accuracy while reducing administrative burden.

Implications for Services

Documentation must be maintained regularly, not just ahead of visits.
Staff training should emphasise the paramountcy principle and continuous improvement.
Leadership teams must embed improvement cycles into daily operations.
Families may see greater transparency in how services demonstrate quality and compliance.

The strengthened A&R framework marks a decisive shift towards continuous improvement, service readiness, and child‑centred regulation. By embedding the paramountcy principle into every aspect of assessment, NSW ensures that children’s safety, wellbeing, and learning remain at the heart of early childhood education and care.

Services are encouraged to engage proactively with the updated guidance, maintain current QIPs and self‑assessments, and foster a culture where quality is lived daily, not prepared for periodically. This reform is not just about compliance — it is about building a stronger, more transparent, and more accountable sector that consistently delivers the best outcomes for children.