Application of standards and regulations to early years outdoor playspaces

All outdoor playspaces, play equipment and surfaces in Australia, including public playgrounds, school playgrounds and supervised early childhood services, need to comply with a suite of Australian Standards for Playground Equipment and Surfacing (full details and references are listed at the end of this chapter). In educational settings, these Playground Standards offer a basis for effective and sound decision-making processes by educators regarding outdoor play equipment and overall playspace arrangement and management. The Playground Standards are devised from a range of safety, technical and anthropometric data, and draw on international precedents to promote playspaces that offer challenge and risk, but also promote safe play environments for children. In addition, early childhood services regulated under the early childhood National Quality Framework (NQF) (ACECQA, 2013b) must also meet the requirements of the National Quality Standard (NQS) (ACECQA, 2013a) and National Law and Regulations. Some aspects of the NQS specifically guide the provision of outdoor playspaces, notably Quality Area 3 (ACECQA, 2013a). These documents aim to raise quality and drive continuous improvement and consistency in early childhood education and care services, including school-age care. This chapter provides insights into the rationale for national Playground Standards and what they mean, then explores the Playground Standards and their application to early childhood settings with illustrative examples. The intent is to identify how benefit/risk analysis can be supported by the national Playground Standards and to facilitate comprehensive understandings of early years outdoor playspaces.