GLOSSARY


Administrative data

Administrative data are information recorded in administrative records, systems or reports, primarily collected for the purpose of record-keeping.


Aggregate level data collection

An Aggregate level data collection methodology contains data from statistical entities within the collection population that are grouped together and summed into broader categories.

For the National ECEC Collection, an Aggregate data collection methodology collects totals of children enrolled in and attending preschools programs at the service provider record level only. Data collected at this level does not contain child record level information.


Attendance

For the purposes of the National ECEC Collection, a child is considered to be attending a preschool program if the child was enrolled and present for at least one hour during the reference period. Children who did not attend a preschool program during the reference period (e.g. children who were absent due to illness or extended holiday leave) are not considered to have attended a preschool program.


Child Care

Child care services provide care to children at a specific location, and can include long day care, family day care, outside school hours care, vacation care, in-home care and occasional care services. Child care services may or may not offer additional preschool programs within their services. Child care services may be provided through a combination of private organisation, community and some state and local government initiatives.


Child Care Management System (CCMS)

The CCMS is a national child care computer system that enables child care services to exchange child care information online with the government. It enables the payment of the Child Care Benefit and Child Care Rebate fee reduction on behalf of parents to approved child care services. It also provides for the collection of information about the supply and usage of child care across Australia.

Child Care Benefit: a payment made to eligible parents or guardians, to assist with the cost of child care for long day care, family day care, outside school hours care, vacation care, in-home care and occasional care services. Eligibility is based on an income test.

Child Care Rebate: a payment available to eligible parents or guardians who are working, training or studying, to assist with the out-of-pocket expenses for approved child care services.


Child record level data

Child record level data contains data for each individual child in a data set. Data at the child record level includes personal characteristics and enrolment and attendance information for each child.


Collection date

The recommended collection date is the common date to collect data. For the National ECEC Collection, the collection date is the first Friday in August. For 2011 this was Friday 5 August.


Council of Australian Governments (COAG)

COAG is the peak intergovernmental forum in Australia, comprising the Prime Minister, State Premiers, Territory Chief Ministers and the President of the Australian Local Government Association. The role of COAG is to initiate, develop and monitor the implementation of policy reforms that are of national significance and which require cooperative action by Australian governments.


Coverage

Coverage explains the extent to which the scope is complete.


Data element

A unit of data for which the definition, identification, representation and permissible values are specified by at least one or more data items. Data elements for the National ECEC Collection are detailed within the ECEC NMDS and the National Early Childhood Education and Care Collection: Data Collection Guide (cat. no. 4240.0.55.002).


Data item

A particular characteristic of units in a population which is measured or observed. For the National ECEC Collection, data items have been adopted by the ABS where appropriate for conducting the collection and for processing activities.


Data processing

The preparation of data for analysis. Data processing involves five steps: data coding, data input, data editing, data cleaning and data modification.


Data validation

A method of confirming the reliability of data through a checking process, to ensure that the data is free of systematic error. A validation study compares data collected using a collection instrument with data considered to represent the "true value" of the data.


Delivery setting

The type of setting in which children's service activities are provided or could be provided by a service provider, as defined within the 2011 ECEC NMDS.

Centre-based (school): refers to child care services or preschool programs delivered on school grounds, using school facilities, e.g. a building owned by the school.

Centre-based (other): refers to a non-residential building that was purpose-built or renovated for the purpose of delivering early childhood education and care services, but is not located on the property of a State, Independent or Catholic school, e.g. a child care centre or stand-alone preschool that is not part of a primary school.

Home-based (child's home): refers to a private residential dwelling where the child lives.

Home-based (other): refers to a private residential dwelling where a child care service or preschool program is delivered by someone other than the child's parents, carers or guardians, e.g. a family day care caregiver's home.

General community setting: refers to a non-residential community infrastructure, facility or building that was not specifically built or developed for the provision of early childhood education and care services and is not part of a State, Independent or Catholic school, e.g. a park, community or scout hall, public library, etc.

Other setting: refers to settings not covered under the other categories, such as mobile services which are attended at a specific location, rather than being delivered in settings such as a child's home.


Disadvantage

A key requirement of the National Partnership Agreement on Early Childhood Education (NP ECE) is that preschool programs should be available to everyone, regardless of their income or background. The NP ECE also recognises that disadvantaged families often face barriers to accessing government services for various reasons.

To measure the extent to which children from disadvantaged families are under- represented in preschool programs, the National ECEC Collection uses usual residence, in conjunction with the geographically based Index of Relative Social Disadvantage (IRSD), which is one of four indexes of the Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA). See also ‘SEIFA’.


Early Childhood Education and Care National Minimum Data Set (ECEC NMDS)

The ECEC NMDS is the document of agreed standards, definitions, classifications and protocols required for nationally comparable ECEC data. Entities within the ECEC NMDS are at the following levels.

Person/child: refers to the child enrolled in the preschool program.

Person (employed)/worker: refers to all persons or staff members who work within an ECEC service provider (both contact and non-contact staff), irrespective of whether they are employed (paid) or working voluntarily (unpaid).

Service provider organisation: refers to the ECEC establishment that delivers the preschool program.


Episode of enrolment/attending a preschool program

An episode is the count of the occurrence of a specific characteristic. For the National ECEC Collection, an episode refers to a preschool program provided to a child. When one child attends two different preschool programs, the child is attending two episodes of preschool.


Enrolment

A child is considered to be enrolled if they were offered a place in the preschool program and:

• attended the preschool program for at least one hour during the reference period; or

• were absent during the reference period due to illness or extended holiday leave, but were expected to return.

A child is not considered to be enrolled if they were absent during the reference period and not expected to return to the preschool program.


Fees

For the purpose of the National ECEC Collection, fees refer to the actual tuition fees charged for the child to attend a preschool program after subsidies have been deducted. Preschool fees are collected differently for unit record level (URL) data and Aggregate level data. For URL data, fee information is collected at the child level. As this is not possible for Aggregate collections, fee per child information is based on a service's schedule of fixed fees, for example a charge of $150 per full term. The fee schedule can differ between programs, organisations and jurisdictions. Fees may be charged daily, weekly, annually, per session or per term. If data are collected or provided at any level other than weekly, the weekly fee is derived from the provided fee and fee schedule.


Hours

Information on preschool hours available, enrolled and attended is necessary to evaluate whether children have access to 15 hours of preschool per week and if so, whether they are enrolled in and attending the program for those hours. Part of the Universal Access commitment is that by 2013 every child will have access to a preschool program for at least 15 hours a week, 40 weeks a year.

Information on hours is collected differently for URL data and Aggregate level data. For URL data, hours information is collected at the child level. As this is not possible for Aggregate collections, hours data are collected at the service provider level, and hours per child is derived.


Indigenous status

For the purposes of the National ECEC Collection a child is considered to be Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander if he or she is identified by a parent/guardian as being of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander origin. The National ECEC Collection uses the ABS standard Indigenous categories, which are as follows:

• Aboriginal but not Torres Strait Islander origin

• Torres Strait Islander but not Aboriginal origin

• Both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander origin

• Neither Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin

• Not stated/inadequately described

Jurisdiction

A jurisdiction is defined for the purpose of the National ECEC Collection, as the Australian Government or a state or territory government within Australia.


Licensed service providers

Licensed service providers are service providers that have been issued with a license by the relevant department or authority which grants legal approval or accreditation to operate their service or a particular component of their service, such as a preschool program or child care centre.


Management type

Preschool management type refers to the legal or social entity responsible for managing the service. Data presented from the National ECEC Collection are based on ECEC NMDS categories. Early childhood education and care services may be provided by a number of legal and social entities. The management type categories used in the National ECEC Collection include the following.

Government managed:
State and territory and local government managed: State and territory and local government managed services are services that are managed by the state, territory or local government. Excludes state and territory government schools.

State and territory government schools: State and territory government schools are schools that are funded and managed by the respective state or territory government.

Non-government managed:
Private not-for-profit - community managed: Community managed services include services that are managed by organisations based in the community through a membership made up of community members (e.g. the parents). The membership elects a management committee and the committee is accountable to the membership. No profit is distributed to the management committee or the members, any surplus funds are redirected to the service.

Private not for profit - other organisations: Other organisations include services that are managed by non-profit organisations such as charity organisations, consortium of charity organisations and church groups. Excludes Independent and Catholic schools.

Private for-profit: Private for-profit services include for-profit services provided or managed by a company or private individual.

Independent schools: Independent schools are non-government schools that are governed, managed and accountable at the level of the individual school and are not affiliated with the diocesan Catholic Department of Education.

Catholic schools: Catholic schools are schools that are affiliated with the diocesan Catholic Department of Education. Catholic schools, as with other classes of non-government schools, receive funding from the Australian Government.

Other: Other services include employer sponsored services.


Metadata Online Registry (METeOR)

METeOR is an online repository for national metadata standards for health, housing and community services statistics and information. It is the resource which holds all ECEC NMDS data elements and associated metadata standards.


Ministerial Council for Education, Early Childhood Development and Youth Affairs (MCEECDYA)

MCEECDYA was established on 1 July 2009 following agreement of the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) to a realignment of the roles and responsibilities of two previously existing councils - the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA) and the Ministerial Council for Vocational and Technical Education (MCVTE). Main areas of responsibility covered by the Council are primary, secondary, international and early childhood education. For more information see the MCEECDYA website: http://www.mceecdya.edu.au/mceecdya/.

On 30 June 2011, MCEECDYA was reformed to the new Standing Council for School Education and Early Childhood.


Performance indicator

Performance indicators are measurement indicators used to assess the progress of the National Partnership on Early Childhood Education (NP ECE) and may be calculated using data from the National ECEC Collection. Performance Indicators relating to the NP ECE are further described in detail in Chapter 7, Collection Background and Governance.


Preschool program

A preschool program is a structured, play-based learning program, delivered by a degree qualified teacher, aimed at children in the year before they commence full-time schooling. This is 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. Early childhood education terminology of a preschool program differs across states and territories, and these differences are outlined in Chapter 3, Concepts and Definitions.


Reference period

The period of time for which the data are collected and/or compiled (e.g. calendar year, financial year, last week, last fortnight or a specific day of the month etc.). The reference period may vary for each data element within a collection. For example, fees and hours data could be collected over a 2 week period, however these data would then be derived back to a representative week. For the 2011 National ECEC Collection the reference period was 1 August to 5 August 2011.


Service activity type

The service activity type is the type of service available or provided by an early childhood education and care service provider. Definitions of service activity types include the following.

Long day care: Long day care is a centre-based form of child care service providing all-day or part-time care for children of working families and the general community (services may cater to specific groups within the general community). For-profit and not-for-profit organisations, local councils, community organisations and employers may run these services. Long day cares primarily provide long day care services for children aged 0–5 years. Some long day care may also provide preschool and kindergarten programs and care for school children before and after school and during school holidays, where state and territory government regulations allow this. The service may operate from stand-alone or shared premises, including those on school grounds.

Occasional care: Occasional care comprises of services usually provided at a centre on an hourly or sessional basis for short periods or at irregular intervals for parents who need time to, for example, attend appointments, take care of personal matters, undertake casual and part time employment, study or have temporary respite from full time parenting. These services provide developmental activities for children and are aimed primarily at 0–5 year olds. Centres providing these services usually employ a mix of qualified and other staff.

Outside school hours care: Outside school hours care comprises services that provide care for school aged children (5–12 year olds) before school, after school, during school holidays, and on pupil free days. Outside school hours care may use stand-alone facilities, share school buildings and grounds and/or share facilities such as community halls.

Vacation care: Vacation care comprises services provided for school aged children (5–12 year olds) during school holidays only.

Family day care: Family day care comprises services providing small group care for children in the home environment of a registered carer. Care is primarily aimed at 0–5 year olds, but primary school children may also receive care before and after school, and during school holidays. Educators work in partnership with scheme management and coordination unit staff.

In-home care: In-home care comprises services where an approved carer provides care in the child’s home. Families eligible for in-home care include families where the parent/s or child has an illness or disability; families in rural or remote areas; parents working shift work or non-standard hours; families with more than two children from a multiple birth and/or more than two children under school age; and families where a breast feeding mother is working from home.

Preschool program: stand-alone: Preschool program (stand-alone) comprises of separately located services dedicated to provide structured educational programs to children in the year before they commence full-time schooling only.

Preschool program: as part of a school: Preschool program (as part of school) comprises services that are co-located with a school that provide structured educational programs to children in the year before they commence full-time schooling. These services may also be integrated with a school.


Service provider record level data

Service provider record level data contains data for each individual service provider delivering a preschool program within a data set. Data at the service provider record level includes location information, management type, activity type and service delivering setting, as well as information on preschool programs delivered by each service provider in the data set.


Socio-economic indexes for areas (SEIFA)

The SEIFA is a product developed especially for those interested in the assessment of the welfare of Australian communities. SEIFA is a suite of four summary measures that have been created from 2006 Census information. The indexes can be used to explore different aspects of socio-economic conditions by geographic areas. For each index, every geographic area in Australia is given a SEIFA number which shows how disadvantaged that area is compared with other areas in Australia. The indexes provide more general measures of socio-economic status than is given by measuring, for example, income or unemployment alone. The SEIFA index used for the National ECEC Collection is the Index of Relative Socio-economic Disadvantage (IRSD).

Index of Relative Socio-economic Disadvantage:

The IRSD summarises a range of information about the economic and social resources of people and households within an area. Unlike other indexes, this index includes only measures of relative disadvantage. Variables that comprise this index include; low income, no qualifications, unemployment, overcrowded housing, disability, no car, and Indigenous status.


Standing Council for School Education and Early Childhood

The Standing Council on School Education and Early Childhood comprises state, territory, Australian Government and New Zealand Ministers with responsibility for the portfolios of school education, early childhood development and youth affairs. With the new COAG Council System, the Standing Council replaces MCEECDYA.


Subsidy

Subsidies are defined as state and territory government funding for preschools and/or preschool programs, as well as any additional financial support provided by the Australian Government and state, territory and local governments to eligible families to make preschool more affordable.


Unit Record Level (URL) data collection

A URL data collection methodology contains confidentialised data for individual statistical entities in a collection population.

For the purposes of the National ECEC Collection, a URL data collection methodology collects child enrolment and attendance level data corresponding to service provider record level data for each child in the data set. A URL data collection methodology also includes worker record level data corresponding to service provider record level data for each worker in the data set.


Usual Residence

The place where the person has or intends to live for six months or more, or the place the person regards as their main residence, or where the person has no other residence, the place they currently reside.


Work activity

The work activity type refers to the type of work performed by a person in the course of their employment in early childhood education and care.

Primary contact: An activity type of primary contact refers to a worker that mainly has direct contact with children. This may include but is not limited to teachers, teacher's assistants/ aides, specialist teachers and therapists.

Other contact: An activity type of other contact refers to a worker that has some duties involving direct contact with children, but deals mainly with staffing or management issues such as supervising staff and handling queries from parents or designing the education program. This may include but is not limited to principals, deputy principals, centre managers and coordinators.

Management / administration: An activity type of management/administration refers to a worker who mainly performed management or administration work that contributed to the running of the early childhood education and care service and had no direct contact with children. Work may include clerical or receptionist duties, filing, keeping financial records, staffing and management issues.

Other work: An activity type of other work refers to a worker who provides support services such as cooking, cleaning and gardening. This may include drivers, cooks, cleaners and maintenance staff.


Worker

All paid employees who were working at an in-scope service provider during the reference period are in-scope of the collection. This includes both contact and non-contact workers, irrespective of whether the worker delivered a preschool program during the reference week.


Year before full-time schooling (YBFS)

The year before full-time schooling (also referred to as the 'year before formal schooling') is a term used to describe the 'preschool' cohort, due to the varying delivery models of early childhood education in the different jurisdictions (McEwin and Ryan, 2009). The year before a child begins full-time schooling is further defined as Year 1 (or Grade 1) minus 2 years.