A leading early learning and childcare provider has developed a transparent assessment process to help families to be confident about the quality of their centres.
Guardian Childcare and Education operates the Family Choice Award program across its more than 180 centres in Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne and Adelaide.
The program is based on Google reviews, family survey results and performance against the National Quality Standards (NQS).
Guardian said recent research showed more than half of all consumers relied on online reviews and a further quarter put trust in the word of family and friends.
The Family Choice Awards offered a way for families to see how other families viewed a certain centre.
Guardian Childcare Chief Network Officer Sharon Whiteman said families deserved to be well informed when making a decision on where to place their child in care.
“A safe and nurturing environment is vital in an early learning and care setting and the views of families with children already in care is important,” Ms Whiteman said.
“These families know first-hand the benefits of quality early learning, delivered with their child’s safety in mind at all times.
“Because our centres proudly publicise their Family Choice Awards on our website, it allows the views of current families to be visible to all.”
Ms Whiteman said a Guardian centre had to meet several easily verifiable benchmarks to earn a Family Choice Award, ensuring true transparency for parents.
“It is not us commenting on our own centre,” she said. “It is the families that already see their children thriving in our environments.”
Ms Whiteman said to receive a Family Choice Award a centre needed to have Google Reviews well over 4 stars for at least the past six months; strong Family Survey results with a Net Promoter Score (NPS) above 50; and Excellence in Quality Area Six of the NQS, which assesses “Collaborative Partnerships with Families and Communities”.
Ms Whiteman said centres that went above and beyond and had a Google Review Score closer to 5 stars; an NPS score well above 50; while maintaining excellence in NQS, received a Family Choice Gold Award.
Learn more about the awards and find out who were the 2026 winners here.
