Advertised Australian early childhood intervention role descriptions: are they reflective of best practice and are the skills, knowledge, and experience sought by employers suitable?

National best practice guidelines for early childhood intervention (ECI) were first published in Australia in 2016, but research into the implementation of these guidelines has been limited. The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which the role descriptions of ECI positions advertised by Australian employers aligned with the best practice guidelines. Through secondary analysis of 246 online job advertisements for ECI positions, collected over a 5-month period, we examined role descriptions to identify those including descriptions of key best practices. We also examined the extent to which the skills, knowledge, and experience advertised as essential aligned with best practice role descriptions, and what qualifications were required for best practice roles. Over 97% of the advertised roles included components of one or more of the Australian key best practices, but practices related to family and inclusion were included in less than half of these. Few employers advertising best practice-aligned roles required successful candidates to have knowledge, skills, or experience in the corresponding area. Implications of these findings for both research and practice are presented.