EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AND CARE NATIONAL MINIMUM DATA SET
The development and implementation of agreed data standards through the ECEC National Minimum Data Set (ECEC NMDS) (MCEECDYA, 2010) is a key focus of the NIA ECEC. The AIHW has been commissioned to undertake this work within their existing data repository, the Metadata Online Registry (METeOR). The ECEC NMDS includes a set of national data standards and instructions to assist jurisdictions in the collection of comparable ECEC data, which will improve data quality for reporting against the NP ECE performance indicators. The ABS is assisting the AIHW in working towards further development and implementation of the ECEC NMDS.
A detailed description of each of the Unit Record Level (URL) and Aggregate ECEC NMDS data elements are provided in the National Early Childhood Education and Care Collection: Data Collection Guide, 2011 (cat. no. 4240.0.55.002). Further information is also available on the AIHW website:
Each jurisdiction in Australia is currently at different stages of implementing improvements to their ECEC data collections to align with the ECEC NMDS. As systems and procedures for collecting data to the necessary quality standards are still evolving, it will not be possible to produce statistics for all the performance indicators using the 2011 National ECEC Collection.
The extent to which jurisdictions meet the ECEC NMDS standards is summarised in
Chapter 5, Jurisdictional Data Quality Statements
Print Page
Print All