An ACECQA assessment and rating (A&R) visit is one of the most significant events in a childcare centre’s operational calendar. Your service’s rating determines how you are perceived by families, regulators, and industry, and under the updated NQF, the documentation bar for Quality Areas 2 and 7 is higher than it has ever been.
This guide provides a comprehensive checklist of what assessors look for during an A&R visit, focused on child safety and security compliance, the areas most impacted by the 2025–2026 reforms.
Understanding the Assessment Process
An A&R visit typically involves one or more assessors spending time at your centre observing practice, interviewing staff and management, and reviewing documentation. The assessment covers all seven Quality Areas, but for this guide we focus on Quality Area 2 (Children’s Health and Safety) and Quality Area 7 (Governance and Leadership).
The assessment does not provide advance notice of what specifically will be reviewed. Assessors have broad discretion to request any documentation that relates to the Quality Areas being assessed. This means your compliance record must always be complete, not prepared for a specific visit.
Quality Area 2 Checklist, Children’s Health and Safety
Incident Records
- All serious incidents documented with complete records (date, time, description, response, notification details)
- Evidence that 24-hour notification was met for all reportable incidents
- Parent notification records for each incident
- Regulatory authority notification records with timestamps
- Follow-up documentation for any incidents requiring further action
Supervision Policies and Practice
- Current written supervision policy addressing ratios, designated supervision zones, and high-risk areas
- Evidence that supervision ratios are maintained and monitored
- Records of any supervision-related incidents or near-misses
CCTV Policy and Documentation
- Current written CCTV policy addressing camera placement, data retention, access, and consent
- Evidence that all staff have received CCTV policy training
- Records of any CCTV footage access, with authorisation documented
- Review date on the CCTV policy (must be current within 12 months)
Personal Device Policy
- Current written personal device policy compliant with the September 2025 NQF amendments
- Evidence of staff training on the personal device policy
- Records of any policy breaches and how they were managed
Physical Environment Risk Assessment
- Documented risk assessment of the physical environment, including access controls, hazard identification, and CCTV coverage
- Evidence that the risk assessment is reviewed annually or when significant changes occur
- Records of any hazard remediation actions taken
Quality Area 7 Checklist – Governance and Leadership
Policy Framework
- All mandatory policies in place and current (updated to reflect 2025–2026 NQF amendments)
- Evidence that all policies have been reviewed within the required period
- Staff sign-off records confirming policy acknowledgment
Staff Records and Registration
- All staff with unsupervised child access registered on the National Early Childhood Worker Register
- Current Working With Children Check records for all applicable staff
- Staff training records including mandatory child safety training
Management Oversight
- Evidence that management has visibility across compliance activities
- Records of internal audits or compliance reviews
- Evidence that compliance failures are identified, addressed, and documented
What Assessors Are Actually Looking For
Beyond the specific checklist items, assessors are assessing the quality and consistency of your compliance culture. Key questions they are implicitly asking:
- Does documentation reflect what actually happens at the centre, or does it describe a theoretical ideal?
- Do staff understand your policies and apply them consistently?
- When incidents occur, does the response match the documented procedure?
- Is management actively engaged with compliance, or is it treated as an administrative burden?
The most common reason centres receive a ‘Working Towards’ rating is not that their practice is poor, it is that their documentation does not adequately reflect their practice. A real-time incident management system like SafeDay addresses this directly by building the compliance record automatically as staff respond.
Preparing Staff for Assessor Questions
Assessors will interview staff, often without management present. Common questions include:
- Can you walk me through what you would do if you noticed a child alone in the outdoor area?
- What is your centre’s process for reporting a serious incident?
- Where would you find the CCTV policy if you needed to check it?
- What child safety training have you completed recently?
If staff cannot answer these questions consistently and accurately, it signals a gap between documented policy and actual practice, the most scrutinised dimension of an A&R assessment.
Summary
Assessment readiness is not a one-time project, it is the outcome of consistently good compliance practice. Use this checklist to identify gaps in your current documentation, and address them through system improvements rather than papering over them before a visit. For the broader compliance framework, see our NQF child safety compliance guide.
