Project

This project requires photographic images reflective of the diversity of education and care services, as well as families and children, for the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority’s (ACECQA) family focused brand, StartingBlocks.gov.au.

The StartingBlocks.gov.au website (www.startingblocks.gov.au) is now the one and only national government website to help families find quality education and care services for their children.

About ACECQA and the National Quality Framework

The Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) is an independent national authority based in Sydney. ACECQA guides the implementation of the National Quality Framework for Early Childhood Education and Care (NQF) nationally and ensures consistency in delivery.

The NQF is the result of an agreement between all Australian governments to work together to provide better educational and developmental outcomes for children using education and care services. It introduces a new quality standard for long day care, family day care, preschool/kindergarten and outside school hours care.

The NQF sets a higher national quality standard to encourage services to continue to improve their programs and practices, and services are assessed and rated against the National Quality Standard (NQS).

About ACECQA’s family focused StartingBlocks.gov.au website

ACECQA launched its family focused StartingBlocks.gov.au website in 2015, and it aims to increase awareness and understanding of the NQF and NQS service quality ratings.

The StartingBlocks.gov.au website is primarily a content-driven website providing information to families about early childhood education and care. Through a range of articles, videos and its Find Child Care tool StartingBlocks.gov.au is a one-stop shop for all child care related information.

StartingBlocks.gov.au is a starting point to:

• learn about children's developmental milestones

• understand what to expect from an early childhood education and care service

• find child care services and learn about their quality ratings, fees, vacancies and inclusions

• get tips on starting child care or preschool, and what can be done at home to encourage children’s learning and development.

Objectives

ACECQA plans to communicate and engage with families and communities so that they increasingly knowabout the StartingBlocks.gov.au website, and more broadly to raise awareness and understanding of the NQF and the importance of quality early childhood education and care.

The objectives of this project are:

• To provide StartingBlocks.gov.au with imagery in line with the ACECQA Photography and Image Policy and Guidance and best practice guidelines.

• To provide StartingBlocks.gov.au with high quality images that illustrate quality education and care practices, key themes from the National Quality Standard (NQS), child developmental and learning milestones, and child-parent/family relationships in a variety of service types.

• To supplement our existing photography collection for StartingBlocks.gov.au collateral and ACECQA sector resources (online, social media and print).

Description of services

ACECQA requires the services of an external photography company to supply a range of high quality photographs for use in StartingBlocks.gov.au website, social media channels, print and online collateral and other promotional materials.

It is proposed there will be up to 10 service locations, with two 3-hour sessions at particular locations (total 20 sessions) taking place in education and care services in the Sydney metropolitan area.

Location shoots will require a range of visit times including early morning and late afternoon and may also require some after-hours photography to capture family engagement activities.

The selected photography team will be on location on the same day as a videography team on the initial service visits, and ACECQA will be directing collaborative opportunities between the teams throughout the project to achieve its desired project outcomes.

ACECQA will identify the education and care services to be involved in the project and coordinate all logistics and permissions.

Ownership

All work produced by the contracted party will be on a “work-for-hire” basis. This means ACECQA will be the sole owner of all rights, including without limitation, the copyright, in the work. The contractor will also separately assign all present and future rights in the work and the associated materials of the project to ACECQA and may not reproduce or reuse the work or the associated materials for any purpose without written permission from ACECQA.

Project requirements

The contracted party will be expected to be in contact with ACECQA staff through all phases of project execution, meeting as needed through video teleconferencing, phone or email, and providing regular written progress updates. Advice will be provided about any particular focus areas to be captured in the photography. 

Any assignment or subcontracting by the selected contractor for the work to be performed, or goods and/or services to be provided, in whole or in part, any other interest in this request for proposal, shall not be permitted without the express written consent of ACECQA.

Key deliverables

• Variety of high quality photographic images of education and care services in line with key NQS concepts (minimum 100 per session) and advice from ACECQA staff attending the shoots.

• All images (RAW and high res JPEG and PNGs) to be delivered via a secure/password protected online gallery.

Timeframes

Project commencement is anticipated from July 2023.

Full completion of the project is due by April 2024, with all location visits to be completed by March 2024.

Best practice guidelines

The filming of children for this project will be carried out in accordance with ACECQA’s established procedures and photography/image guidelines.

As part of the guidelines, written consent will be sought from families and the service for photography.

Budget

No budget has been set. Quote to include costs.

Selection criteria

Tenders received will be judged by ACECQA on the following selection criteria:

• Understanding of StartingBlocks.gov.au and the scope of the project.

• Demonstrated experience in photography and post-production (ideally in educational settings).

• Sensitive approach to children’s education and care service environment/context.

• Ability to complete image requirements during each service visit.

• Proposed price.

• Availability and willingness to complete all location visits by March 2024, with full project completion by April 2024.

• Project management and reporting approach.

• Expected timeline for completing the work.

Proposal requirements and how to submit

Proposals must address the selection criteria and include:

• business name, address and ABN

• introduction summarising your company’s background, resources and relevant experience

• examples of past projects, preferably of a similar size and scope – can include links to online

material

• proposed costs for the project – including a suggested workplan and a breakdown of fees for professional services, hours and administrative services, including GST

• availability to begin the project

• a list of personnel on the project team and their roles

• a single point of contact – name, title, phone and email address.

Based on the written proposal, selected organisations may have the opportunity to present their proposal to ACECQA.

For further information, contact:

Prachi Srivastava, Senior Communications Officer – Families Strategy

Email: Prachi.Srivastava@acecqa.gov.au