Families place enormous trust in early childhood education and care services. When choosing a centre, families are not only looking for a beautiful learning environment or a convenient location; they are trusting a team of people with their child’s safety, wellbeing, learning and development.
That is why quality, compliance, and transparency matter.
ACECQA has released its latest Q4 2025 National Quality Framework Snapshot, providing a national overview of early childhood education and care services across Australia. The Snapshot reports on quality ratings, assessment and rating outcomes, and regulatory activity across the sector.
The headline is encouraging nationally; quality ratings have reached a record high.
For the first time since the National Quality Framework was introduced, 92% of education and care services are now rated Meeting the National Quality Standard or above. When quality ratings were first published in 2013, only 56% of services had reached this benchmark.
This shows how far the sector has come, and how continued focus on quality improvement is helping to strengthen outcomes for children and families.
What does this mean for long day care?
For long day care services specifically, the latest Snapshot shows that 91% are rated Meeting NQS or above.
This includes:
- 74% rated Meeting NQS
- 17% rated Exceeding NQS
Put simply, around 9 in 10 long day care services nationally are meeting or exceeding the quality standard families should expect.
A service rated Meeting NQS is meeting the National Quality Standard across the seven quality areas. This means the service is meeting expectations not only for the educational program, but also for children’s health and safety, relationships with children, partnerships with families and communities, staffing arrangements, the physical environment, and governance and leadership.
The rating reflects the service as a whole, including how children are supported, how families are welcomed, how educators work together, and how leadership and everyday practices create a safe, consistent environment.
Families are welcome to explore the Quality Area posters displayed in our centre foyers to learn more about the seven quality areas and what they look like in practice.
A service rated Exceeding NQS is demonstrating high-quality practice that goes beyond the expected standard in meaningful and consistent ways.
Quality improvement is ongoing
One of the most positive messages from the snapshot is that quality is not static.
Services are expected to reflect, review, and improve their practice over time. The Snapshot shows that many services previously rated Working Towards NQS improved their rating upon reassessment, and the number of services rated Significant Improvement Required also decreased.
At Futuro, this aligns closely with how we approach quality. Our teams regularly reflect on practice, review our environments, strengthen our policies, and consider how our decisions support children’s safety, wellbeing and learning.
Quality is not something that sits in a folder. It is something children and families should experience every day.
Stronger regulation supports safer services
Alongside quality ratings, the latest snapshot also highlights another important part of the early learning system: regulation.
Regulatory action has increased significantly over recent years, including in NSW. While increased compliance activity may sound concerning at first, it can also be understood as a sign of a system that is becoming more active, visible and responsive.
A strong regulatory system does not simply set expectations. It checks whether those expectations are being upheld.
This matters because children deserve safe, high-quality education and care, and families deserve to know that services are being held accountable.
Families now have more information than ever
Recent reforms have placed a stronger focus on transparency across early childhood education and care.
Families can now access more information about a service’s quality rating and compliance history, helping them make more informed decisions when choosing care.
We explored these changes in our previous blog, Understanding Recent Regulatory Changes in Early Childhood Education, which explains how recent reforms are designed to strengthen child safety, accountability, and transparency across the sector.
Understanding Recent Regulatory Changes in Early Childhood Education
At Futuro, we welcome transparency. We believe families should feel confident asking questions about safety, quality, compliance, staffing, supervision, and governance.
Our current quality ratings are:
- Futuro Austral — Exceeding NQS
- Futuro Bardia — Meeting NQS
- Futuro Gledswood Hills — Meeting NQS
- Futuro Leppington Heath Road — Not yet rated
As Futuro Leppington Heath Road only opened in January 2026, it has not yet undergone Assessment and Rating. This is a normal part of the process for newer services, allowing time for practices, relationships, and routines to become embedded and demonstrated.
We are also pleased to share that Futuro services have not received breach notices.
Our commitment at Futuro
At Futuro, children’s safety, rights and best interests are at the centre of our decision-making.
This is reflected in our Paramountcy Principle, which recognises that the rights, safety and best interests of every child are the paramount consideration in all decisions, actions and practices across our services.
We are committed to creating early learning environments where children feel secure, respected and supported to grow. We are equally committed to strong governance, continuous improvement and transparent communication with families.
The latest national Snapshot shows a sector that is continuing to improve. It also reinforces the importance of ongoing vigilance, accountability and openness.
For us, quality is not simply about achieving a rating. It is about the everyday decisions, relationships and systems that protect children and help them thrive.