An Assessment and Rating (A&R) visit can feel daunting, but it is far more manageable when a service treats quality improvement as an everyday practice rather than something to scramble together before a visit. Assessment and Rating is carried out by your state or territory regulatory authority against the National Quality Standard (NQS), administered nationally through the framework set by ACECQA.
This guide covers who conducts the visit, what assessors commonly look for - with particular attention to Quality Area 2 (Children's Health and Safety) and Quality Area 7 (Governance and Leadership) - and how to keep your Quality Improvement Plan and supervision records visit-ready.
Who conducts the Assessment and Rating visit
Assessment and Rating visits are conducted by authorised officers from your state or territory regulatory authority (for example, the relevant department or regulatory body in your state), not by ACECQA directly. ACECQA maintains the National Quality Framework and supports consistency nationally, while your state regulatory authority carries out the on-site visit and determines the rating.
What assessors look for in Quality Area 2
Quality Area 2 covers children's health and safety, including supervision. Assessors typically look for evidence that educators maintain active supervision across all areas children can access, that staffing and ratios are consistently met, that risk assessments are current for excursions and the physical environment, and that incident, injury, trauma and illness records are accurately maintained and acted on. Clear, dated supervision plans showing how your service covers higher-risk areas (such as water play, sleep rooms and outdoor spaces) are valuable evidence here.
What assessors look for in Quality Area 7
Quality Area 7 covers governance and leadership. Assessors generally look for evidence of clear roles and responsibilities, effective self-assessment and continuous improvement processes, and a current, well-used Quality Improvement Plan (QIP) that reflects genuine reflection rather than a static document. Being able to show how feedback from families, staff and children has led to real changes strengthens this evidence.
Keeping your Quality Improvement Plan visit-ready
Your QIP should be a living document, updated as issues are identified and addressed rather than rewritten just before a visit. Good practice includes dating entries, linking improvements to specific NQS elements, and keeping a simple record of how changes were implemented and reviewed.
Supervision plans and incident records
Have supervision plans readily accessible for each room and outdoor area, showing educator positioning, ratios and specific attention points for higher-risk times (arrival, transitions, sleep, outdoor play). Keep incident, injury and complaint records organised, with evidence of follow-up actions - assessors are generally interested not just in whether something happened, but in what the service did about it.
Using a self-audit before the visit
Running your own structured self-audit against QA2 supervision expectations before an A&R visit is a practical way to find gaps early. Our free QA2 Supervision Self-Audit Checklist walks through common supervision evidence points so you can address anything missing well before assessors arrive.
Sources
Related
General information only, not legal advice. Check current requirements with your state or territory regulatory authority.