Early Childhood Education and Care Qualification Review

This is a large and complex project which will review and update CHC30121 Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care and CHC50121 Diploma of Early Childhood Education and Care to ensure responsiveness to current and emerging skills needed in the sector. The purpose of these qualifications is to support a specific occupation.

We will also work with the Department of Education and the Department of Employment and Workforce Relations to explore the findings and recommendations from a number of recent reports to ensure the suitability of current early childhood education and care qualifications.

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The primary objective of this project is to support the development and growth of the early childhood education and care workforce.

A review of the CHC30121 Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care and the CHC50125 Diploma of Early Childhood Education will consider relevant skills and training and workforce development findings and recommendations in recent reports including:

Victorian Government's 'Rapid Child Safety Review' (2025)
Job and Skills Australia’s ‘The Future of Early Childhood Education Profession’ (2024)
Australian Government Productivity Commission, ‘A path to universal early childhood education and care’ (2024)
Australian Children’s Education & Care Quality Authority (2023), ‘Review of child safety arrangements under the National Quality Framework’
2019 National Quality Framework Review Decision Regulation Impact Statement (DRIS): ‘Legislative change to require compulsory training on safe sleep practices for all FDC educators subject to governments undertaking further research, costing and impact analysis of any proposed training and the implementation approach’.

Analysis of the various reports and reviews will be jointly undertaken with the Department of Education and Department of Employment and Workplace Relations which will confirm the recommendations being addressed through this project.

The project also aims to complement and build on related initiatives and reform opportunities including:

establishment of the TAFE SA-led Centre of Excellence in Early Childhood Education and Care (CoE), The National Children’s Education and Care Workforce Strategy (2022-2031) Shaping Our Future, the Qualification Reform Design Group (2024) Final Report
priorities for the ECEC sector identified in HumanAbility’s Workforce Plan (2024)
Opportunity and Productivity: Towards a Tertiary Harmonisation Roadmap (2025)

Due to the size and complexity of this project, implementation will be structured into 2 phases:

a review of the CHC30121 Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care and the CHC50121 Diploma of Early Childhood Education and Care
other associated activities that respond to recommendations and insights.

You can provide us with any initial feedback on the CHC30121 Certificate III in Early Childhood Education and Care and the CHC50121 Diploma of Early Childhood Education and Care by emailing us at [email protected].

Project fact sheet

Project Governance

A Technical Committee (TC) comprising of industry experts has been established to provide specialised advice for this project. Members were carefully selected based on their relevant expertise and experience in areas critical to the project.

View the Terms of Reference and Technical Committee members.

The TC will work with HumanAbility in this project to:

identify relevant stakeholders to consult with about the project
provide insights on proposed communication and consultation strategies
provide technical knowledge on the skills and knowledge required to meet graduate outcomes and workforce needs.

Our Project Consultation Strategy has been finalised and is available to download.

Functional analysis workshops

We invited early childhood education and care educators to attend one of our 5 online workshops held between 13 and 21 October 2025 to share their experiences and thoughts about working with children. The responses will play a critical role in informing our qualification review and help us improve training products, processes and outcomes. We were able to get insights into the everyday tasks educators perform in relationship to qualifications like the Certificate III and Diploma in Early Childhood Education and Care. This will assist us in understanding where and how current qualifications need to be enhanced or differentiated and what career pathways should look like.

Subject matter experts

Thank you to everyone who submitted an expression of interest to join our volunteer subject matter expert (SME) pool. We have now formed a team to provide critical input into our qualification review. These volunteers will be vital to the success of this review and directly impact the future of the early childhood education and care sector.

January to March 2026

As part of our Early Childhood Education and Care Qualification Review, we're inviting registered training organisations, educational experts, subject matter experts, industry bodies, unions, employers, providers, First Nations people and other invested people to attend a consultation workshop. These workshops will help us to:

understand industry changes and the skills, knowledge, practice and requirements needed for the Certificate III and Diploma in Early Childhood Education and Care
understand current challenges, gaps, opportunities and potential solutions
identify and inform changes for the qualifications, units of competency and skill sets
identify functions that are common across all/specific settings and pathways within the sector
gain advice on the development of resources, guidance on delivery and pathways information.

Your perspectives will contribute to shaping the outcomes of this project and ensure the suitability of current early childhood education and care qualifications.

Come along, share your thoughts and be part of the conversation.

Workshops

Cairns: Tuesday 17 March 2026, 9am to 4.30 pm (local time)
Location: TBA

Early Childhood Education and Care Qualification Review

Project Governance

Functional analysis workshops

Subject matter experts

January to March 2026

Workshops

March to August 2026

August to November 2026

How to get involved

Contact details

Timeline

Project Set Up

Development

Consultation

Finalisation and Submission

Endorsement and Implementation