For approved providers and directors · Australia
ACECQA's information sheets on educational program documentation, updated in September 2025, separate what the National Law and Regulations actually require from the habits services have built on top of them. For a director setting expectations for a team, it is the clearest permission in years to document less, and better.
Start with what actually happened: one action, quote, attempt, change, or question. A polished observation is never required.
StoryLoop drafts and checks. The educator reviews, edits, decides what is true, and chooses whether anything is shared.
Reviewed 23 September 2026 · Written by Leo, who builds StoryLoop, in Ōtautahi Christchurch
What StoryLoop does with a note
A real note an educator typed, and the start of the draft StoryLoop wrote from it, unedited, with the EYLF V2.0 links, learning and next steps to follow.
Jack sorted the bear counters by colour into the cups. Then lined up the red ones and counted 8. Put 2 blue ones on the end and said 'now it's ten'.
Sorting and making ten
Jack sorted the bear counters by colour into the cups. After sorting, he lined up the red bears and counted them. Jack counted 8 red bears, then added 2 blue bears to the end of the line and said, “now it's ten”.
What learning we noticed
Jack used sorting, counting and adding in one clear sequence. He noticed the colours, organised the bears into groups, counted the red bears, and then changed the set by adding two more. When Jack said, “now it's ten”, he showed that he was thinking about the total, not just naming the colours or counting by rote.
Type what you saw today. StoryLoop writes the draft here, with EYLF V2.0 links, and shows you exactly what it is built on.
No signup for your first try. Use a first name or initial only.
Your draft appears here, with EYLF V2.0 links that only claim what your note shows, usually in under a minute.
Tip: what the child did, one thing they said, and what happened next. Three lines is plenty.
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Have a program based on the EYLF that contributes to its five outcomes (Regulation 73), document each child's assessments and progress (74), make that documentation understandable to educators and families (74(2)), display information about the program (75) and give families their child's records on request (76). That is the legal floor.
How much documentation, what it looks like, and which method or tool you use. ACECQA states that the National Law and Regulations do not prescribe the amount or the method. Authorised officers will not decide your templates, apps or tools.
Quotas of observations per child in a set timeframe, inflexible program templates that duplicate information, always coding observations with EYLF outcome numbers, and requiring a photo or video for every piece of documentation.
Most documentation workload in Australian services is not set by the regulator. It is set inside the service: a template someone designed years ago, a quota of observations per child per fortnight, a rule that every story needs a photo and a list of outcome codes. ACECQA's 2025 information sheets name several of those habits directly as misconceptions.
That puts the decision back with the approved provider. If your team is documenting at night, the first question is not which tool is fastest. It is which of your own expectations the law never asked for.
Consult educators and build shared ownership of documentation expectations. Keep the focus on the primary purpose of documentation. Make benchmarks sustainable, reasonable and achievable. Remove or minimise duplication. Make sure documentation supports time with children rather than competing with it. Give educators the time and professional learning to do it well, and accept that people will document in different ways and at different levels of skill.
It also recommends reviewing documentation processes collaboratively and regularly, so they stay fit for purpose rather than accumulating.
Drop per-child quotas and document significant moments when they happen. Stop coding outcome numbers onto every observation unless it genuinely helps your planning. Let a learning story carry the planning cycle inside the narrative, which ACECQA describes as an effective approach. Take photographs when they add to the child's learning and respect their rights, not by default.
StoryLoop was built for exactly this version of documentation: a short, real observation becomes a narrative draft with curriculum links only where the note supports them, and the educator decides what is true. It sits alongside whatever platform your families already use.
Official references
These sources inform this guide. StoryLoop is independent and does not claim endorsement.
FAQ
No. ACECQA lists quotas of observations per child in a set timeframe as a misconception that puts quantity over quality. Documenting significant moments as they happen, in a way that is meaningful for the child, is what it describes as effective.
No. ACECQA asks services to consider whether numbering or coding outcomes actually helps planning and is understandable to families, or whether it only duplicates work. A learning story can carry the planning cycle within the narrative.
No. ACECQA says authorised officers will not expect to see copious photographs or videos. Requiring a photo for every record is listed as a misconception, and images should follow the National Model Code on taking images in early childhood services.
The regulations do not prescribe the tool, and authorised officers will not determine the apps or approaches you use. What matters is that documentation is accurate, meaningful, understandable to families and informs the program, and that your service's privacy and digital safety policies are followed.
Set expectations that are sustainable, reasonable and achievable, remove duplication, give educators time and professional learning for documentation, and review your documentation processes with your team regularly. Those are ACECQA's own recommendations to approved providers.