Child care agencies glossary
Short, plain-English definitions of the terms you'll meet when choosing a child care agency provider in Gold Coast.
- What are quality area ratings explained?
- Quality area ratings are standardised assessment grades assigned by ACECQA to child care services, measuring performance across areas including learning environments, staffing, partnerships, and governance.
- What is a Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care?
- A Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care is an Australian vocational qualification (VET) that trains and certifies early childhood educators to work in licensed child care services.
- What is a certified supervisor?
- A certified supervisor is an educator with required qualifications who leads and manages an education and care service and holds responsibility for compliance with the National Law.
- What is a Child Care Subsidy (CCS)?
- The Child Care Subsidy (CCS) is an Australian government payment that reduces the cost of child care for eligible families at approved providers, calculated based on family income, work or study activity, and the type of care service used.
- What is a diploma qualified educator?
- A diploma qualified educator holds a nationally recognised early childhood education qualification at diploma level and must be present to meet legislated staff-to-child ratios in regulated care settings.
- What is a family day care educator?
- A registered early childhood educator who provides care and education for a small group of children in their own residence as part of a family day care scheme.
- What is a nominated supervisor?
- A nominated supervisor is the person designated by the approved provider to manage compliance, staffing, and day-to-day operations at a child care service in accordance with regulatory requirements.
- What is a Working with Children Check (Blue Card)?
- A Working with Children Check, commonly called a Blue Card in Queensland, is a mandatory national police and criminal record screening that clears individuals to work or volunteer with children in regulated care and educational settings.
- What is ACECQA?
- ACECQA (Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority) is the national independent authority responsible for quality assurance, regulatory compliance, and rating decisions across early childhood education and care services in Australia.
- What is an activity test for child care subsidy?
- An activity test is the assessment used by Australian authorities to determine how many subsidised child care hours a family is eligible to receive based on the number of hours each parent works, studies, or participates in other approved activities.
- What is an approved provider?
- An approved provider is a child care service that meets the regulatory requirements of the Education and Care Services National Law and is registered with the Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA), making it eligible to accept Child Care Subsidy (CCS) from families.
- What is an Early Childhood Teacher (ECT)?
- An Early Childhood Teacher (ECT) holds a degree qualification in early childhood education and is a mandated staffing role in kindergarten programs and centres serving multiple age groups under National Quality Framework (NQF) regulations.
- What is an enrolment and orientation program?
- An enrolment and orientation program is the formal process a child care service uses to help new families and children adjust to the facility before regular attendance begins, typically including transition visits and gradual introduction to the environment, staff, and routines.
- What is an Inclusion Support Program (ISP)?
- The Inclusion Support Program is an Australian Government funding scheme that provides resources, training, and support to child care services to help them include children with additional needs, disabilities, or developmental delays.
- What is an Individual Learning Plan or Individual Support Plan?
- An Individual Learning Plan or Individual Support Plan is a documented agreement between educators and families that outlines tailored strategies and goals to address a child's particular learning, behaviour, or developmental requirements.
- What is bonded educator relationship (continuity of care)?
- A continuity of care arrangement where a child is primarily cared for by the same educator over weeks and months, building trust and familiarity rather than rotating through staff.
- What is educator to child ratio?
- Educator to child ratio is the minimum number of qualified staff required to supervise a specific number of children at any given time, determined by the child's age group under Queensland childcare regulations.
- What is in-home care (IHC)?
- In-home care is a subsidised model where a qualified educator provides child care in the family's own home, typically for families with additional needs or non-standard work or care hours.
- What is kindergarten funding in Queensland?
- Queensland's Kindergarten Funding Scheme provides state subsidies to approved kindergarten providers for eligible children aged 3–4 in the year before school entry, supporting access to early education programs.
- What is the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF)?
- The Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) is Australia's national curriculum framework that guides early childhood educators in delivering play-based learning experiences and monitoring developmental outcomes for children from birth to five years old.
- What is the My Time, Our Place framework?
- My Time, Our Place is Australia's national quality framework that sets educational and developmental standards for school age care programs delivered in before and after school care and vacation care settings.
- What is the National Quality Framework?
- The National Quality Framework (NQF) is Australia's system of national laws, regulations, standards and quality rating mechanisms that govern all education and care services, including child care.
- What is the National Quality Standard?
- The National Quality Standard (NQS) is an Australian regulatory framework that sets benchmarks for child care and early education services across seven defined quality areas, used to assess and rate service performance.
- What is vacation care?
- Vacation care is a supervised program offered during school holidays for school-age children, providing activities and childcare when regular school is not in session.