Report on Government Services 2026

PART B, SECTION 3: RELEASED ON 10 FEBRUARY 2026

Performance – linked to Objectives

Outputs

• Equity – Access
  • ECEC participation by selected equity groups – most recent data for at least one measure is comparable and complete
• Effectiveness – Access
  • ECEC participation – most recent data for all measures is comparable and complete
  • Parent costs for ECEC services – most recent data for all measures is comparable and complete
• Effectiveness – Appropriateness
  • Non-standard hours of care in child care services – most recent data for all measures is either not comparable and/or not complete
  • Demand for ECEC – no data reported and/or no measures yet developed
• Effectiveness – Quality
  • Staff quality in ECEC – most recent data for at least one measure is comparable and complete
  • NQF quality and compliance – most recent data for at least one measure is comparable or complete
  • Serious incidents – most recent data for all measures is comparable and complete
• Effectiveness – Sustainability
  • Workforce sustainability – no data reported and/or no measures yet developed
• Efficiency – Inputs per output unit
  • Government recurrent expenditure per child – most recent data for at least one measure is comparable and complete

Outcomes

• Family work-related needs for child care – most recent data for all measures is comparable and complete
• ECEC outcomes – most recent data for all measures is comparable and complete

A description of the comparability and completeness is provided under the Indicator results tab for each measure.

‘ECEC participation by selected equity groups’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to provide ECEC services in an equitable manner, and that there is access for, and participation of, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, vulnerable and disadvantaged children.

‘ECEC participation by selected equity groups’ is defined by two measures:

• Children using child care – the proportion of children enrolled in Australian Government CCS approved child care services who are from selected equity groups, compared with their representation in the community, for children aged 0–5, 6–12 and 0–12 years
• Preschool program participation – the proportion of children enrolled in a preschool program in the state-specific YBFS who are from selected equity groups, compared with the representation of these groups in the community for those aged 4–5 years. This measure is also reported for children aged 3–5 years.

Selected equity groups include children:

• who are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
• from non-English speaking backgrounds (NESB)
• from regional and remote areas
• from low-income families (measure 1 only), or from low socio-economic areas (measure 2 only). A low socio-economic area is defined for measure 2 to be children residing in an area with a Socio-economic Indexes for Areas Index of Relative Socio-economic Disadvantage quintile of 1
• with disability.

A high or increasing ECEC participation rate is desirable. Equitable access is suggested if participation of selected equity groups is similar to their representation in the community.

Nationally, children from selected equity groups had lower attendance rates in child care than their representation in the community (figure 3.2a).

Nationally, preschool participation in the state-specific YBFS for children from NESB, low socio-economic areas, and children with disability was lower than the representation of children aged 4–5 years in the community. For children from regional areas participation was higher. For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, and children from remote and very remote areas, participation was similar to their representation in the community (figure 3.2b).

Nationally, preschool participation for children aged 3–5 years from selected equity groups was lower than their representation in the community, except for children from regional areas, where participation was similar to their representation in the community (table 3A.17).

‘ECEC participation’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to ensure that ECEC services are accessible.

‘ECEC participation’ is defined by two measures:

• Children using child care – the proportion of children who are enrolled in Australian Government CCS approved child care services, for children aged 0–5, 6–12 and 0–12 years
• Preschool program participation – the proportion of children who are enrolled in a preschool program in the state-specific YBFS.

A higher or increasing proportion of children participating in ECEC services is desirable. However, this indicator can be difficult to interpret as this indicator does not provide information on parental preferences for using child care and preschool.

Nationally in the March quarter 2025, 35.0% of children aged 0–12 years attended Australian Government CCS approved child care, up from 30.7% in 2016. In 2025, attendance by children aged 0–5 years was 50.9% compared with 22.5% of children aged 6–12 years (figure 3.3a).

Nationally in 2025, average hours of attendance per child was 34.1 hours per week for centre based day care and 25.6 hours per week for family day care, but considerably less for OSHC at 10.1 hours per week (table 3A.18).

Nationally in 2024, 90.9% of children were enrolled in a preschool program in the state-specific YBFS, similar to 89.2% in 2023 (figure 3.3b). 

To be considered as enrolled, the child must have attended the preschool program for at least one hour during the reference period or be absent due to illness or extended holiday leave and expected to return. State and territory data is based on the location of the child’s residence.

In 2024, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children had a higher enrolment rate in a preschool program in the state-specific YBFS (93.8%) compared to all children (90.9%) (tables 3A.11 and 3A.19). The majority of all children and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children enrolled in a preschool program aged in the state-specific YBFS were enrolled for at least 15 hours per week (97.3% and 97.4%, respectively) (tables 3A.20–21).

‘Parent costs for ECEC services’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to ensure that ECEC services are affordable.

‘Parent costs for ECEC services’ is defined by three measures:

• Child care service costs – the median weekly cost for 50 hours of Australian Government CCS approved centre based day care and family day care. Costs are before the reduction due to the CCS.
• Child care costs as a proportion of weekly disposable income – the proportion of weekly disposable income that families spend on centre based day care and family day care before and after the payment of child care subsidies, for families with two income earners with a 60:40 income split and gross annual income of between $35,000 and $555,000. This proportion is reported for families with one child or two children (aged 5 years or under) attending centre based day care or family day care for 30 hours.
• Preschool program costs – the median hourly cost of a preschool program (after subsidies) per child enrolled aged 4–5 years.

Median costs represent the middle value of the range of costs.

Provided the service quality is held constant, lower median service costs are desirable. While a similar proportion of income spent across income groups suggests a more equitable outcome, families who use more care per week are expected to face higher out‑of‑pocket costs.

Various factors influence ECEC costs and care needs to be exercised when interpreting results, as:

• fees are set independently by ECEC service providers and there is significant variation in the fees across services
• costs are influenced by a number of factors including NQF approval requirements, award wages, and whether fees include charges for additional services such as nappies and meals, as well as localised issues such as land values and rental costs, rates, and other localised costs of living
• median costs data may reflect particular scenarios of ECEC use and family income level, so do not reflect the out‑of‑pocket costs by families at varying levels of income or care usage
• for preschool program costs, there are a mix of providers (community, private and government). Differences in charging practices can be due to commercial or cost recovery decisions made by individual services. Some preschool programs, particularly those offered at government preschool services, have no tuition fees.

The median weekly cost for 50 hours of care in 2025 was higher for centre based day care ($711) than for family day care ($660) (figure 3.4a). Median weekly costs differ across remoteness areas. In 2025, the median weekly cost of centre based day care in major cities and inner regional areas ($714) was higher than in outer regional and remote areas ($683) (table 3A.22).

From July 2023, there were changes made to the child care subsidy to further reduce the out‑of‑pocket costs for families with one child in 30 hours of child care for all family income categories (AGSA 2025). These reductions were further expanded for families with more than one child aged 5 years or under. Compared to previous years, the subsidies had a greater impact (as a proportion of family income) for lower income families, reducing the variation in the out-of-pocket child care costs across income categories (table 3A.23).

Nationally in the March quarter 2025, after subsidies, the out‑of‑pocket costs for families with one child in 30 hours of child care, as a proportion of weekly disposable income in centre based day care was similar to 2024, and a decrease across all income categories compared to the same quarter in 2023 (figure 3.4b). In the March quarter 2025, out-of-pocket costs increased for families accessing family day care in almost all income categories compared to 2024, but decreased across all income categories compared to 2023 (table 3A.23).

Nationally in the March quarter 2025, after subsidies, the out-of-pocket costs for families with two children (aged 5 years or under) in 30 hours of child care, as a proportion of weekly disposable income, were similar in centre based day care and family day care (table 3A.23).

Nationally, the median cost per hour for a preschool program (after subsidies) per child was $1.83 in 2024, down from $2.00 in 2023 (figure 3.4c). Median hourly costs differ across remoteness areas. In 2024, the median hourly cost of preschool programs (after subsidies) in major cities was $2.22, compared to $1.27 in inner and outer regional areas (table 3A.25).

‘Non‑standard hours of care in child care services’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to ensure that government funded child care services are accessible and flexible.

‘Non‑standard hours of care in child care services’ is defined as the proportion of Australian Government CCS approved child care services that provide non‑standard hours of care, by service type. Definitions of ‘standard hours of care’ and ‘non‑standard hours of care’ are provided in the 'Explanatory material' tab.

A high or increasing proportion of services providing non‑standard hours of care can suggest greater flexibility of services to meet the needs of families. That said, this indicator does not provide information on demand for non‑standard hours of care or whether available non‑standard hours services meet the needs of users.

Provision of non‑standard hours of care can be influenced by a range of factors, such as costs to services and parents, demand for care, availability of carers, and compliance with legislative requirements.

In the March quarter 2025, 43.9% of all CCS approved child care services provided non-standard hours of care, with 42.5% providing care before 7am on weekdays. In this quarter, 69.2% of in home care services provided non‑standard hours of care, followed by family day care (57.3%), OSHC (44.7%) and 43.0% of centre based day care services (table 3.5). This is an increase across all service types since 2020.

‘Demand for ECEC’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to ensure that ECEC services are accessible.

‘Demand for ECEC’ is defined as the proportion of children aged 0–12 years for whom additional formal child care or preschool services are required.

Additional care required refers to children who are already attending formal child care or preschool and where parents wished for them to attend more, as well as children who did not attend any formal child care or preschool and where parents wished for them to attend.

An increasing proportion of families or parents with expressed need for additional ECEC may suggest that additional services are required.

Data is no longer available for reporting against this indicator. Previous data reported for this indicator is available in older editions of the report.

‘Staff quality in ECEC’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to ensure that ECEC services are high quality.

‘Staff quality in ECEC’ is defined by two measures:

• The proportion of paid primary contact staff employed by Australian Government CCS approved child care services with a relevant formal qualification (at or above Certificate level III), or three or more years of relevant experience.
• The proportion of teachers accessible to preschool programs (across all ECEC services) who are at least three year university trained and early childhood qualified.

High or increasing proportions are desirable due to the link between education levels of ECEC staff and children’s learning outcomes.

In 2024, 75.0% of the 209,433 paid primary contact staff employed by Australian Government CCS approved child care services had a relevant formal qualification (at or above Certificate level III), or three or more years of relevant experience (figure 3.5a). Of all paid primary contact staff, 10.7% held a Bachelor degree or above, 33.9% held a Diploma or Advanced Diploma, and 24.0% held a Certificate III or IV (table 3A.27). Although the number of primary contact staff has increased since 2013, the proportion of primary contact staff with a relevant formal qualification at or above Certificate level III has declined from 74.1% in 2013 to 68.6% in 2024.

In 2024, 65.5% of the 27,406 teachers delivering preschool programs were at least three-year university trained and early childhood qualified (figure 3.5b). Over half (51.0%) of teachers delivering preschool programs were four‑year university trained or above and early childhood qualified (table 3A.28).

‘NQF quality and compliance’ is an indicator of governments’ objectives to ensure that ECEC services are high-quality and are delivered in a safe, nurturing and inclusive environment.

‘NQF quality and compliance’ is defined by two measures:

• Achievement of National Quality Standard (NQS) – defined as the proportion of NQF approved services with a quality rating, whose overall NQS rating is: ‘Meeting NQS’, ‘Exceeding NQS’ or ‘Excellent’.

  Services receive an overall rating of Meeting NQS if they are rated as Meeting or Exceeding NQS in all seven quality areas. Services receive an overall rating of Exceeding NQS if four or more quality areas are rated as Exceeding NQS, including two of the four following quality areas: Quality Area 1, Quality Area 5, Quality Area 6 and Quality Area 7. The Excellent rating can only be awarded by the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA), on application by the Approved Provider (ACECQA 2023). The 'Explanatory material' tab includes further information on NQS achievement.

  A high proportion of services that achieve the NQS suggests a high quality of service provision.

• Confirmed breaches – defined as the number of confirmed breaches by NQF approved services, per 100 NQF approved services.

  A confirmed breach is when a regulatory authority finds that a provider, nominated supervisor or family day care educator has failed to abide by relevant legislation, regulations or conditions at an NQF approved service.

  Breaches vary in circumstance and severity. Some breaches can have serious implications for the quality of care provided to children (such as requirements to undertake criminal record checks for staff and requirements to install smoke detectors). Other breaches do not necessarily directly affect the quality of care (such as requirements to display NQF approval information).

  All else being equal, a low or decreasing rate of confirmed breaches can suggest a higher quality service. A high or increasing rate of confirmed breaches does not necessarily mean that a jurisdiction has lower service safety and quality, as it might mean it has a more effective reporting and monitoring regime.

The majority of ECEC services are approved and regulated under the NQF, including child care services (centre based day care, family day care, vacation care and OSHC) and preschool services. As at 30 June 2025, there were 18,018 NQF approved ECEC services nationally – up from 17,705 in 2024 (table 3A.29). Some ECEC services are licensed and/or registered to operate by state and territory governments, but are not approved under the NQF, including occasional care and mobile preschools (state and territory governments, unpublished).

At 30 June 2025, 92.8% of NQF approved services had received a quality rating, with 24.5% of services assessed or reassessed in the previous 12 months (table 3A.29). Overall, 93.0% of centre based day care services and 84.5% of family day care services have received a quality rating.

At 30 June 2025, of the NQF approved services that had been rated, 91.0% achieved the NQS (70.4% met, 20.4% exceeded, and 0.2% were excellent) – up from 90.0% in the previous 12 months (figure 3.6).

In 2025, the proportion of NQF approved services with a rating level that achieved the NQS was highest for quality areas 6 (Collaborative partnerships with families and communities – 98.6%), 5 (relationships with children – 98.0%), 4 (staffing arrangements – 97.9%) and 3 (physical environment – 97.5%). The quality areas with the lowest proportion of services that achieved the NQS were quality area 1 (educational program and practice – 94.1%) and 7 (governance and leadership – 94.0%) (table 3A.31).

Nationally in 2024-25, there were 222.2 confirmed breaches per 100 NQF approved services, up from 200.8 in the previous year. The highest rate was for family day care (460.9 breaches per 100 services), followed by centre based day care services with 278.7 breaches (table 3.6a).

‘Serious incidents’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to ensure that ECEC services are delivered in a safe environment.

‘Serious incidents’ is defined as the number of serious incidents that have occurred at NQF approved services, per 100 NQF approved services. Serious incidents are incidents that seriously compromise the health, safety or wellbeing of children attending an ECEC service.

The scope of the serious incidents indicator is NQF approved services. Under regulation, an NQF approved service must notify the regulatory authority (within 24 hours) of any serious incident that involves a child that was being educated and cared for by an ECEC service.

Serious incidents includes any incidents: involving the death of a child; involving serious injury or trauma to, or illness of, a child; where the attendance of emergency services was sought (or ought reasonably to have been sought); and where a child has been locked in or out, removed from the premises in contravention of regulations, or is unaccounted for. More information on 'serious incidents' is in the 'Explanatory material' tab.

A low or decreasing rate of serious incidents may suggest safer ECEC services. Caution should be used in interpreting results within and across jurisdictions as variations may be affected by differences in the number of children (or hours of service delivery) per service. Nationally comparable data is not currently available on the number of children enrolled (or hours of service delivery provided) in NQF approved services. It should also be noted that the rate of serious incidents reflects the reporting practices of approved providers which can vary.

Nationally in 2024-25, there were 159.8 serious incidents per 100 NQF approved services, up from 148.1 in 2023-24 (figure 3.7). The majority of incidents involved serious injury or trauma to, or illness of, a child (77.7% of all serious incidents) followed by incidents where the attendance of emergency services was sought (or ought reasonably to have been sought) (11.5%) (table 3A.33).

‘Workforce sustainability’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to provide sustainable ECEC services. 

ECEC workforce sustainability relates to the capacity of the workforce to meet current and projected service demand. These measures are not a substitute for comprehensive workforce analysis that considers training, migration, emerging work patterns and future demand. However, they can indicate the need for workforce planning for ECEC services. 

A measure of workforce sustainability for ECEC is the attrition rate of ECEC workers. A low or decreasing rate of workforce attrition is desirable.

Data is not available for reporting attrition for ECEC workers.

Further measures of ECEC workforce sustainability are currently under development for reporting in the future.

Some data that provides context for workforce sustainability measures includes:

• the number of registered early childhood teachers (table 3A.34). New South Wales (since 2016), Victoria (since 2015), Western Australia (since 2012) and South Australia (since 1973) require all early childhood teachers to be registered. The Australian Capital Territory commenced voluntary early childhood teacher registration in 2024 and Queensland, Tasmania and the Northern Territory are planning to commence in the coming years
• the number and proportion of paid contact staff with and without ECEC qualifications (table 3A.35). Nationally in 2024, most (87.8%) paid contact staff working at centre based day care had an ECEC-related qualification. A higher proportion of paid contact staff working in preschool services had a bachelor degree or above (41.4%) than in all child care services (11.9%)
• the age profile of child care and preschool staff and the years of experience of ECEC workers. Nationally in 2024, most (68.1%) staff working in preschool services were aged over 40 years (table 3A.36). In 2024, 68.2% of paid contact staff with an ECEC qualification working in preschool services and 41.2% of paid contact staff working in child care services had more than seven years experience (table 3A.37)
• ECEC services with a staffing waiver (table 3A.38)
• enrolments in ECEC-related higher education and VET courses (tables 3A.39–40). 

‘Government recurrent expenditure per child’ is an indicator of governments’ objective for ECEC services to be efficient.

Government recurrent expenditure per child is defined by two measures:

• Total government recurrent expenditure on ECEC per child in ECEC – the combined Australian Government and state and territory government recurrent expenditure on ECEC per child in ECEC (children in child care and preschool services).
• Australian Government recurrent expenditure per child attending CCS approved child care – the Australian Government recurrent expenditure per child aged 0–12 years attending Australian Government CCS approved child care services.

Efficiency data should be interpreted with care because:

• changes in expenditure per child could represent changes in government funding policy. While high or increasing unit costs can reflect deteriorating efficiency, they can also reflect increases in the quality or quantity of service provided. Similarly, low or declining expenditure per child can reflect improving efficiency or lower quality or quantity. Provided the level and quality of, and access to, services remain unchanged, lower expenditure per child can indicate greater efficiency of government expenditure
• differences in reported efficiency results across jurisdictions can reflect differences in definitions and counting and reporting rules.

All Australian Government recurrent expenditure reported for this indicator is provided for child care services, whereas state and territory government recurrent expenditure covers both child care and preschool services.

In 2024-25, combined Australian Government and state and territory government real recurrent expenditure on ECEC services per child in ECEC was $12,794, up from $11,815 (8.3%) in 2023-24 (figure 3.8a).

Contextual data on the combined government recurrent expenditure on ECEC per child aged 0–12 years in the community is in table 3A.42.

Australian Government real recurrent expenditure per child attending CCS approved child care services was $11,246 in 2024-25, up from $10,306 (9.1%) in 2023-24 (figure 3.8b).

‘Family work‑related needs for child care’ is an indicator of governments’ objective for ECEC services to meet the needs of families, including enabling increased workforce participation.

‘Family work‑related needs for child care’ is defined as the proportion of people aged 15 years or over not in the labour force due to caring for children, who report the main reason for not being in the labour force as child care service‑related.

A relatively small or decreasing proportion of people not in the labour force due to caring for children who report the main reason for not being in the labour force as child care service‑related may indicate that services are meeting the needs of families. However, there are a number of factors which affect the labour force participation decisions of people responsible for caring for children, of which child care service‑related reasons are a subset. Also, due to the subjective nature of self‑reporting, care should be taken when interpreting the data.

The ABS data used for reporting against this indicator is collected in February of each year.

Of the 205,900 people aged 15 years or over who in 2025 reported that they were not in the labour force due to caring for children, 29.7% reported this was due to a child care service-related reason (figure 3.9). This is a decrease from 35.3% in 2016.

Nationally in 2025, the most common child care service-related reason provided for not being in the labour force was the cost of child care (24.0%). The most common non-child care service related reason was a preference to look after children (26.9%) or children were ‘too young or too old’ for child care services (18.5%) (table 3A.44).

‘ECEC outcomes’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to provide ECEC services that meet the education, care, and development needs of children.

‘ECEC outcomes’ is defined as the proportion of children with ECEC experience who are developmentally vulnerable on one or more domains of the Australian Early Development Census (AEDC).

The AEDC collects data from teachers on the early childhood development of children when they are in their first year of full-time schooling. Children are considered developmentally vulnerable in a domain if they score below the 10^th percentile. The domains are: language and cognitive skills; physical health and wellbeing; social competence; emotional maturity; and communication skills and general knowledge.

A low proportion of children who received ECEC reported as developmentally vulnerable is desirable and a lower proportion of children who received some ECEC reported as developmentally vulnerable compared to children who did not receive any ECEC could indicate that receiving ECEC leads to better development outcomes. However, results should be interpreted with caution as:

• the data report on the correlation between ECEC experience and development outcomes. The causal impact of ECEC experience on development outcomes cannot be determined from the data
• ECEC experience is just one factor contributing to development. A range of other factors also influence development outcomes, including parental and family circumstances and other services such as health and parenting support
• ECEC experience is reported by the teacher, and therefore, dependent on the teacher’s knowledge of the child’s previous experience
• the data do not include how much ECEC (for example, hours per week) children received
• not all children in the dataset have a complete response for whether or not they attended ECEC.

In 2024, 23.5% of children in their first year of full-time schooling were developmentally vulnerable on one or more domains – slightly higher than in previous years. Children who received some ECEC were less likely to be developmentally vulnerable on one or more domains (21.8% in 2024), compared to children who did not receive any ECEC (44.0% in 2024), both higher than in previous years (figure 3.10).

ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) 2025, Preschool Education methodology, 2024, https://www.abs.gov.au/methodologies/preschool-education-methodology/2024 (accessed 22 April 2025).

ACECQA (Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority) 2023, Guide to the National Quality Framework, https://www.acecqa.gov.au/national-quality-framework/guide-nqf (accessed 1 October 2024).

AGSA (Australian Government Services Australia) 2025, Child Care Subsidy (accessed 18 November 2025).