The National Quality Standard (NQS) is the benchmark for quality in Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) within Australia. The Australian Government positioned reflective practice at the core of the NQS (ACECQA, 2013) in order to raise standards and inform future planning and decision making (COAG, 2009; Kennedy, 2011). Critical reflection was identified as foundational to good practice with educators expected to engage in a 'lively culture of professional inquiry' (DEEWR, 2009, p. 13) with reflection ensuring a way of continued improvement to raise standards. This paper reports on a research study that explored the impact and implementation of critical reflection as part of the NQS in ECEC. This research identified that critical reflection positively impacts ECEC operations and also positively impacts the learning environment of ECEC centres.