The review report provides evidence of:
- The extent to which the National Standards for centre based long day care, family day care and outside school hours care services are reflected in the contemporary child care standards and regulations that are in place within each state and territory of Australia
- Stakeholder views about current standards and regulation, including the administration and effect of quality assurance processes for centre based long day care, family day care, and outside school hours care services, as administered by the National Childcare Accreditation Council
- Stakeholder ideas about the future standard and quality of child care, and about government roles in setting, implementing, monitoring and reviewing the standard and quality of child care services
- International research and literature on high-quality early childhood education and care, and government administration and management of the standard and quality of early childhood education and care services
- Approaches taken to standard setting and quality assurance in selected, allied human services
- The status and stage of development of regulatory systems for in-home care services across Australia, and stakeholder views about future regulation and quality assurance
- Several options for revitalising and streamlining the processes of standard setting and quality assurance in relation to child care services, each option attempting to ensure a coordinated national approach that reflects contemporary evidence and is more dynamic in practice.