Victorian services are performing well. Around 90% hold a quality rating, and roughly 96% of those are rated Meeting NQS or above. On paper, the sector looks strong.
But “meeting” isn’t a fixed line, it’s a moving one. And in 2026, it’s moved further and faster than most services realise.
A new regulator, watching more closely
As of 1 January 2026, the old Quality Assessment and Regulation Division has been replaced by an independent authority: the Victorian Early Childhood Regulatory Authority (VECRA). It’s not just a rebrand, VECRA has expanded powers, including the ability to share compliance intelligence about individuals with both providers and recruitment agencies, and the Victorian Government has backed it with an additional $26 million tied to the state’s Rapid Child Safety Review.
A better-resourced, more connected regulator means the standard you were assessed against last time isn’t necessarily the standard sitting in the room next time. The service that comfortably “met” eighteen months ago may be looking at a very different today.
From 27 February 2026, changes to the National Law made the safety, wellbeing and rights of children the paramount consideration in every decision under the framework, not something that lives only in Quality Area 2. Assessors aren’t just checking that a child safe policy exists. They’re looking at whether it visibly shapes decisions across your whole service: rostering, physical environment, staff employment, day-to-day practice.
This is exactly where “meeting the standard” gets slippery. A service can have every policy document in order and still fall short, because the bar has quietly shifted from having the policy to demonstrating it lives in daily practice. That’s a harder thing to fake and a harder thing to notice you’re missing, right up until an assessor asks the question you weren’t ready for.
So what does “meeting” actually mean right now?
That’s the real question every service should be asking, not “did we meet the standard last time,” but “do we know, today, where we’d sit against it right now.” Most services don’t find out the answer until the real visit, which is the most expensive possible way to learn it.
Get ahead of it
We all know our practices and our QIPs aren’t something that live in a folder once a year, they’re happening every single day, throughout our services. The question is whether you actually know that to be true, or you’re assuming it.
A Mock Assessment & Rating session tells you which one it is. We run your service through the real experience, documentation, educator interviews, the walk-through, against where the standard sits today, not where it sat when your QIP was last updated.
Don’t wait for your Assessment & Rating to find out. Book a Mock A&R with one of our team members
and get on the front foot.
Sources: Victorian Early Childhood Regulatory Authority (vecra.vic.gov.au); Victorian Government 2026–27 Budget; ACECQA (acecqa.gov.au).
