4240.0.55.001 - National Early Childhood Education and Care Collection: Concepts, Sources and Methods, 2011

ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 07/03/2012

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Contents >> Collection Overview >> Collection Date and Reference Period

COLLECTION DATE AND REFERENCE PERIOD

The collection date for the National Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) Collection is the first Friday in August of each year. In 2011, the collection date for all jurisdictions was Friday, 5 August 2011, with a reference period of 1 – 5 August 2011. Some jurisdictions preferred to incorporate a reference period of two weeks that included the collection date, to better reflect their preschool program delivery models. Jurisdictional collection dates and reference periods for 2011 are summarised in the table below.

2.1 JURISDICTIONAL COLLECTION DATES AND REFERENCE PERIODS, 2011


Jurisdiction	Collection Date	Reference Period

Australian Government	5 August 2011	1 – 7 August 2011

New South Wales	5 August 2011	1 – 12 August 2011(a)

Victoria	5 August 2011	1 – 6 August 2011

Queensland	5 August 2011	1 – 7 August 2011 and 25 July – 7 August 2011(a)(b)

South Australia	5 August 2011	25 July – 5 August 2011(a)

Western Australia	5 August 2011	25 July – 5 August 2011(a)

Tasmania	5 August 2011	25 July – 5 August 2011(a)

Northern Territory	5 August 2011	1 – 5 August 2011

Australian Capital Territory	5 August 2011	1 – 12 August 2011(a)

(a) Jurisdiction collected data for a fortnightly reference period to reflect their preschool delivery model.
(b) Reference period for community-based preschools in Queensland.

For the National ECEC Collection to be comparable across the states and territories, it is necessary for all jurisdictions to have consistent collection dates and overlapping reference periods. The use of the recommended collection date of the first Friday in August also aligns the National ECEC Collection with the census date used for the National Schools Statistics Collection to ensure that children are only counted in one sector of education.