Abstract:
It is widely acknowledged that the quality of cen tre-based care for young children is a critical determin ant of a range of positive social, education and health-related outcomes (Barnett & Ackerman 2006; Vandell et al, 1988; Schweinhar t et at. 1993). Yet in 2001, Australia ranked at near the bottom of an OECD league table measuring how much countries invest in children's earliest years (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development 2001). Further, Australia's quality assurance regime for child care has been criticised, particularly for its failure to make reliable or comparable information on th e quality of child care services readily available to parents (Radich 2002; Hill, Pocock & Elliott 2007; Rush 2006).
