THIS ARTICLE ILLUMINATES THE significance of the Child Care Act 1972 (Cwlth) as a critical juncture in the development of Australian early childhood education and care (ECEC) policy and, specifically, in establishing quality as a key policy consideration. The article reports on an analysis of the Act, informed by Foucault's use of a history of the present, that highlights dominant discourses and path-dependent processes as both enabling and constraining for quality in child care and the development of a national ECEC sector.
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